April 21, 2008
Find yourself | A chat with Patti Fousek, founder of CreativeMind Search Marketing in South Berwick.
Founded: September 2007
Employees: None
Startup costs: $1,100
Projected revenue, year one: $45,000
Projected revenue, year two: $88,000
Contact: 457-5444
PO Box 84, South Berwick 03908
www.creativemindsearchmarketing.com
Could you explain a bit about what search marketing is?
Sure. In basic terms, it's getting your website in front of search engines so that you can target your ideal market. And what I concentrate on is search engine optimization, which is the free side of the search engine [rather than the sponsored-ad side]. So it's doing keyword research so that you're getting the right keywords to target your ideal audience, and then incorporating those keywords into your website.
Can you tell me about how you started this business?
I pretty much fell into search engine optimization out of need from prior jobs that I've had. My background is in marketing as well as project management, and I worked for WGBH in Boston, which is the local PBS station. There, it just so happened that we started to create an online [presence] when I worked in the national promotion department, and that's where I really started to learn about search engine optimization.
From there, I moved to Maine and got a job at a local commercial real estate company and one of my major functions was to roll out their Web redesign, so I optimized that website. I had worked for an employer in Portland that was a search engine marketing company and then left there in July and realized, "You know, I could probably do this freelance." There was really an interest, especially for small businesses in my geographical area.
What region do you focus on?
I have some clients that are in Boston ˆ I'm actually doing a few projects for WGBH. I have a couple clients that are in Portland and my base is the Portsmouth-Dover-Somersworth area of New Hampshire because I'm right on that border. Most of them are more service industries, real estate agencies.
How do they find you?
I do a lot of networking and I do get a lot of referrals from my website. I did a presentation at TechMaine in Portland ˆ the former MESDA ˆ and I received a lot of contacts through that one presentation that I had done.
Do you use search engine optimization to market your business?
Oh yes. Oh definitely.
What is that process like?
Well, I did keyword research. The keywords that are used for search engine optimization, they're very competitive, so it's challenging. But basically, I optimized my website from top to bottom, and I'm always doing link-building initiatives. I participate in a lot of blogs and forums in the industry. I'll answer questions on LinkedIn.com a lot.
When you say the keywords are competitive, can you explain what that means?
Sure. I'm just going to do a quick search to give you an idea. I'm going to search for "search engine optimization services." There are over 88 million other competing websites for that phrase. So what I try to do, especially for my own company, is I'm more interested in finding those local visitors, so if I search in "search engine optimization services Maine," that cuts it down to about almost 2 million visitors. So that's why it's very competitive.
Is this something that you check regularly?
There's software that will do that for you. I have it set up so that it sends me weekly reports so I can see where I am. But the way that I see my business is, I am more interested in educating my clients and training them on search engine optimization. I'm looking to reach out to those other in-house marketers that are in a similar position that I was in, where they're faced with managing this website and making sure that they get hits to it and they're like, "Okay, where do I start?" Because that's where the industry's going. People are moving it in-house rather than outsourcing.
Is there anything else that you're thinking about for the future?
I really want to offer seminars on search engine optimization ˆ just another learning vehicle [for] small-business marketers. And also teaching at some of the community colleges. I'm hoping to do that this fall. I also plan on hiring a part-time employee by the end of the year.
By Kerry Elson
Employees: None
Startup costs: $1,100
Projected revenue, year one: $45,000
Projected revenue, year two: $88,000
Contact: 457-5444
PO Box 84, South Berwick 03908
www.creativemindsearchmarketing.com
Could you explain a bit about what search marketing is?
Sure. In basic terms, it's getting your website in front of search engines so that you can target your ideal market. And what I concentrate on is search engine optimization, which is the free side of the search engine [rather than the sponsored-ad side]. So it's doing keyword research so that you're getting the right keywords to target your ideal audience, and then incorporating those keywords into your website.
Can you tell me about how you started this business?
I pretty much fell into search engine optimization out of need from prior jobs that I've had. My background is in marketing as well as project management, and I worked for WGBH in Boston, which is the local PBS station. There, it just so happened that we started to create an online [presence] when I worked in the national promotion department, and that's where I really started to learn about search engine optimization.
From there, I moved to Maine and got a job at a local commercial real estate company and one of my major functions was to roll out their Web redesign, so I optimized that website. I had worked for an employer in Portland that was a search engine marketing company and then left there in July and realized, "You know, I could probably do this freelance." There was really an interest, especially for small businesses in my geographical area.
What region do you focus on?
I have some clients that are in Boston ˆ I'm actually doing a few projects for WGBH. I have a couple clients that are in Portland and my base is the Portsmouth-Dover-Somersworth area of New Hampshire because I'm right on that border. Most of them are more service industries, real estate agencies.
How do they find you?
I do a lot of networking and I do get a lot of referrals from my website. I did a presentation at TechMaine in Portland ˆ the former MESDA ˆ and I received a lot of contacts through that one presentation that I had done.
Do you use search engine optimization to market your business?
Oh yes. Oh definitely.
What is that process like?
Well, I did keyword research. The keywords that are used for search engine optimization, they're very competitive, so it's challenging. But basically, I optimized my website from top to bottom, and I'm always doing link-building initiatives. I participate in a lot of blogs and forums in the industry. I'll answer questions on LinkedIn.com a lot.
When you say the keywords are competitive, can you explain what that means?
Sure. I'm just going to do a quick search to give you an idea. I'm going to search for "search engine optimization services." There are over 88 million other competing websites for that phrase. So what I try to do, especially for my own company, is I'm more interested in finding those local visitors, so if I search in "search engine optimization services Maine," that cuts it down to about almost 2 million visitors. So that's why it's very competitive.
Is this something that you check regularly?
There's software that will do that for you. I have it set up so that it sends me weekly reports so I can see where I am. But the way that I see my business is, I am more interested in educating my clients and training them on search engine optimization. I'm looking to reach out to those other in-house marketers that are in a similar position that I was in, where they're faced with managing this website and making sure that they get hits to it and they're like, "Okay, where do I start?" Because that's where the industry's going. People are moving it in-house rather than outsourcing.
Is there anything else that you're thinking about for the future?
I really want to offer seminars on search engine optimization ˆ just another learning vehicle [for] small-business marketers. And also teaching at some of the community colleges. I'm hoping to do that this fall. I also plan on hiring a part-time employee by the end of the year.
By Kerry Elson
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