Online Workshops to be taught by top SEO/SEM consultants, authors and recognized leaders.

Scotts Valley, CA April 16, 2008 — Internet marketing training provider Market Motive has teamed with Search Engine Strategies to provide online classes for training in search marketing, web analytics, and web conversion techniques.

The workshops are live and interactive, delivered via video screen sharing and live telephone conference. Limited class sizes ensure attendees have time to ask for clarification or deeper explanations. Tuition for each class is $395 and registration opens today at www.marketmotive.com/online-workshops

“Search Engine Strategies has always delivered first-rate conferences and workshops,” said Market Motive CEO Michael Stebbins, “Market Motive leads in online instruction, with many of the same speakers, so this combination brings high quality training to a larger audience.”

Internet marketing expert Andy Beal recently reviewed Market Motive online training. “Market Motive’s media-consulting combination is effective and teaches online marketing in a way that works for the beginner or the experienced practitioner,” said Beal, “I’m impressed, and the guys behind this are the best in the business.”

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Now in its second year the UK Search Engine Marketing Report is produced by E-consultancy in association with Search Engine Marketing agency Neutralize.

Cornwall, UK April 18, 2008 — The survey which forms the basis of the report was completed earlier in the year by over 1000 respondents from both agencies and companies with first-hand experience of search engine marketing.

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Search engine optimization provider BackboneITGroup.com respond to advice given to small businesses in American Express’s OPEN book guide. The validity of an article advising AMEX business customers to avoid professional SEO services is called into question.

Lancaster, UK February 20, 2008 — BackboneITGroup.com today criticized advice handed out to small businesses by American Express in a recent edition of their OPEN book customer publication.

The controversial advice comes from an article in the current edition of AMEX’s ‘A Practical Guide for Business Growth’ which cautions its readers against seeking professional search engine optimization help for their websites, advising them not to “waste money on so-called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists” Read more…

DeSilva+Phillips, Media Investment Bankers, releases its tenth annual Report on the Media M&A Marketplace, which assesses and analyzes the near-record year of 2007 and predicting trends for 2008. 2007 was the year that the long dormant consumer magazine sector exploded with acquisitions and the long-awaited storming of digital media properties by traditional media companies finally took place. There were 135 transactions in the sector, down slightly from 2006 but more than any other year in the past ten, and deal value was $9.6 billion – less than half of 2006. DeSilva+Phillips is cautiously optimistic for media deals in 2008.

New York, NY January 29, 2008 — DeSilva+Phillips, Media Investment Bankers, releases its tenth annual Report on the Media M&A Marketplace, which assesses and analyzes the near-record year of 2007 and predicting trends for 2008. Here are the highlights.

• 135 transactions – down from the 2006 number but more than any other year in the past ten, with dramatic loss of momentum in the 4th quarter.
• Deal volume: $9.6 billion – less than half of the 2006 total.
• Strategics did 33% of the top 15 deals but 62% of dollar volume.

The Advertising Market
• The ad market lagged the economy, delivering only 0.2% growth.
• An historic event: the consumer magazine sector may overtake the newspaper sector to become the second-largest media sector, after TV.

Public Media Companies
• DeSilva+Phillips’s basket of 11 public companies declined 2.3% – the first time this century publics moved in the opposite direction to the markets.
• 3 of the basket’s companies have disappeared from the public markets.

The Top 15 Deals
• Consumer deals dominated, with 10, including the 2 biggest, Gemstar-TV Guide and Primedia’s Enthusiast Group. Consumer deals were 72% of the $8.06 billion total value of the list.
• Top B2B deals were the sales of Advanstar and ALM. 3rd biggest: Dolan Media’s IPO, 4th best performing out of 90 NYSE IPOs.

Traditional Media Using M&A to Converge with Digital
• Traditional media built digital capability on a big scale.
• Niche rather than platform acquisitions prevailed.
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SyberWorks, Inc., a leader in custom e-Learning Solutions and the Learning Management System (LMS) industry, today announces an article available in the SyberWorks Online Media Center: “How-to” Guide to Creating Online Tests, by Dana Fine, Senior Instructional Designer at SyberWorks, Inc.

January 29, 2008 — SyberWorks, Inc., a leader in custom e-Learning Solutions and the Learning Management System (LMS) industry, today announces an article available in the SyberWorks Online Media Center: “How-to” Guide to Creating Online Tests, by Dana Fine, Senior Instructional Designer at SyberWorks, Inc.

Dave Boggs, CEO of SyberWorks, states, “The article provides a thorough overview of how to create online tests. It covers topics such as how the main objective and parameters of the course impact a test, determining the level of difficulty for the test, safeguarding the test from cheating, and other concepts.”

Boggs continues, “The article also discusses how to assess your online test and the implications of some common question types often used in online courses.”
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Official launch of the new Internet business opportunity designed for the masses. There has not been available at this high of a level an ease of use automated marketing powerhouse system that also has virtual assistants, live trained reps who can handle any or all prospects for the owner.

Los Angeles, CA January 24, 2008 — “GRN Team Builder has now gone live,” announced Steve Carlton, president of Vibe Response. GRN Team Builder (www.bizteambuilder.com) is a revolutionary Internet system built for ease of use for the general masses; all with the power of an automated, simple marketing system designed for the mainstream.

With the state of the economy and all the uncertainty in the day to day workplace, more and more people are looking at online opportunities. And here is a new system that holds the home based business owner by the hand right to success. “It makes this fun, fast moving business more simple to quickly earn and learn. And ads in common sense,” Carlton says.

It makes available both cutting- edge Web 2.0 features, as well as the tried and true methods of corporate America. Trained sales reps immediately contact any or all prospects to address questions or give a site tour for the system owner. Or, allow the automated system to handle it all.

The sophisticated technology of the members back office has the most extensive and elite Training Center available in the home business industry today with:

- Interactive Video based Quick Start Guide for Quick cash flow
- Interactive Video Based Advanced step-by-step Training Guide
- Customer Support by phone and email

To run a highly profitable business, support must be a top priority for customers and members. GRN Team Builder (www.bizteambuilder.com) was conceived and designed as a support platform, a Total Sales Solution that includes:
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Media Logic’s new paper “Pump Up Marketing ROI Through Proactive PR” is a must-read for savvy marketing professionals who want to learn how to turn a proactive PR strategy into a low-cost lead generation tool. “Pump Up Marketing ROI Through Proactive PR” is now available for download at www.mlinc.com/proactivePR.

Albany, NY January 24, 2008 — A new paper from Media Logic, a BtoB Magazine top agency and top direct marketing firm, details how today’s savvy marketers can pump up their marketing ROI by using a web-optimized PR strategy. A proper mix of technology and insight can transform your press releases into proactive, low-cost lead generation tools. Pump Up Marketing ROI Through Proactive PR is now available for download at www.mlinc.com/proactivePR.

A proactive PR strategy leverages new media tools such as hyperlinks, podcasts, RSS feeds, social media tags and keyword tagging. These tools offer companies the greatest potential to drive your PR messages across the Internet and deliver them directly to the desktops of your desired audience.

Pump Up Marketing ROI Through Proactive PR is a must read for marketers looking to use PR to target media contacts and highly sought prospects for greater marketing ROI.

“An organization’s PR efforts can play a critical role in building or sustaining credibility and leadership position,” says Phyllis Niner, senior account supervisor at Media Logic. “At the same time, a web-optimized PR strategy can boost overall search rankings to guide potential clients directly into a company’s sales funnel.”

Click here to listen to a podcast in which Phyllis talks about how proactive PR can increase your lead generation and get more potential clients engaged in your sales pipeline.
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Since its launch in 2003, the annual “Thumbnail Media Planner” has filled a void in making key marketing and media information available, including ad media rates for all major national and local media, to those who need it fast. The updated 2008 edition of the “Thumbnail Media Planner” boasts more content, a pocket book size convenient for the pocket or purse, and can be ordered online in hard copy or download formats.

Detroit, MI January 21, 2008 — The new Thumbnail Media Planner has filled a void in the advertising and media planning business by synthesizing the most important marketing and media facts and costs into a great pocket sized reference.

We interviewed the publisher, Ron Geskey, CEO of 2020:Marketing Communications LLC, to gain his insights into this unique publication.

Q: What exactly is the Thumbnail Media Planner?

A: The Thumbnail Media Planner is a 104-page pocket sized marketing-media reference focused on thousands of the most important facts about market and media trends, media availabilities, media reach, the 2008 media market/cost outlook, 2008 media pricing forecasts. It also includes demographics and major media costs for each of the top 100 markets, non traditional media, and even a different analysis of media effectiveness. The Planner even includes reach and frequency tables and a glossary.

Q: For whom is the Planner published?

A: The Thumbnail Media Planner is published for anyone involved with planning or approving advertising and media campaigns — ad agencies, advertisers, media, consultants, entrepreneurs, students and professors. The Planner is especially helpful to agency presidents, account and media people (many of whom order copies for their staffs) in the largest as well as smaller agencies and design firms.

Q: How can the Planner help “a planner”?

A. There are many ways this Planner can help individuals and their companies improve quality, productivity, and client perceptions. One is that a Thumbnail Media Planner is a really great reference tool in meetings. When a client asks you, “How much would it cost to run this newspaper ad in the top 50 markets?” Or, “How many markets could we add?” now you can say, “Just a minute, Ill give you a rough estimate… “instead of ‘Let me get back to you…then having somebody spend hours answering a question that could have been eliminated in 30 seconds…’ It’s ideal for quick media research and estimating the cost of advertising media plans. Anyone needing fast access to media data and costs for network or spot television, magazines, radio, newspapers, the internet — or even many non traditional media– would find the Planner invaluable.
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First of three-part search engine marketing webinar series focuses on how search engine marketers are often mislead on their online advertising performance by using the wrong metrics.

Columbus, OH January 21, 2008 — ClearSaleing Inc., a search engine marketing technology company, has announced they will be hosting a three-part online advertising Webinar series titled Optimize Your Online Ad Investment: The Metric, The Measure and The Method.

The first webinar, The Metric: Are You Using the Proper Metrics to Measure Your Online Ad, will be hosted by ClearSaleing Co-Founder Adam Goldberg. Goldberg is a former Google executive who recognized that many search engine marketers were not properly evaluating their online advertising source performance.

“Most search engine marketers are putting too much emphasis on metrics such as CPA (cost per acquisition), conversion rate, revenue, and CTR (click through rate),” Goldberg said. “The metric search engine marketers should be focused on is profit. Your CPA can decrease, but so could your profit. Conversely, you could increase your conversion rate, revenue, and CTR, only to find that profit has decreased. The only way to ensure your search engine marketing efforts are as profitable as possible is to focus on profit.”

The webinar will cover an array of topics explaining how misguided search engine marketing can be based on many industry-standard metrics that lead to false conclusions. The webinar will show several examples as to how these metrics can lead online advertisers down a dangerous path that can greatly affect online advertising budgets and goals.

ClearSaleing will host this webinar on two separate dates, January 24 and January 31, at 1:30pm EST. To register for The Metric: Are You Using the Proper Metrics to Measure Your Online Ad, please follow this registration link: ClearSaleing.com/MMM.

Additionally, the remaining two search engine marketing webinars in the series are:
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PromotionWorld Honors the SEO Firm for “Effectiveness, Skilled Staff, and Superior Customer Service”

Atlanta, GA January 17, 2008 — Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing, the premier Atlanta search engine marketing company, has been recognized as the number one organic search engine optimization firm in the world for 2007 by PromotionWorld. Competing against national and international firms, Medium Blue was the only SEO firm on PromotionWorld’s entire top ten list headquartered in the Southeast United States. This is the second year in a row that Medium Blue has been honored in this manner by PromotionWorld and the eighth time the SEO firm has been named number one in a monthly or yearly PromotionWorld list since 2005.

“Following our strongest year yet, we are pleased to once again be honored by prestigious, unbiased resource PromotionWorld and to be named the number one organic SEO firm in the world,” said Scott Buresh, CEO of Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing. “As always, our goals for the new year are to maintain controlled growth while also maintaining our reputation for excellent results and superior client service in this ever-changing industry.”

Among its many accomplishments in 2007, Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing was honored with a National Vendor of the Year award by client Panel Systems Unlimited. The SEO firm also helped client OneSource to win a prestigious AMY award from the American Marketing Association. In addition, Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing added a number of high-profile clients to its roster, including The Maids Home Services and golf community Currahee Club, while it continued its campaigns with high-profile clients such as DS Waters, Inviro Medical Devices, and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The SEO firm also advanced its “Promotion through Education” campaign with the Technology Association of Georgia – a program in which Medium Blue’s team of experts search engine optimize informative articles from TAG members – and published an informative whitepaper, “Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix,” to rave reviews.

“For the second year in a row, we felt that Medium Blue deserved recognition as one of the outstanding firms in its field,” said Darren Tabor, CEO of DevStart, PromotionWorld’s parent company. “In 2007, Medium Blue continued to demonstrate its ability to keep clients satisfied and to constantly surpass itself in terms of the organic search engine results it was able to achieve.”
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