By: Matt Yuen

What is Half a Bubble Out? That is how many respond when I say where I interned. What do they do? What do you do? The real question is, as a young marketing and media arts student, what unique opportunities have I not had? 

Did someone tell you that you need to hire a local SEO services company? Or maybe you’ve read something telling you that SEO is crucial for your business? SEO is definitely an important part of your online marketing strategy, but if implemented correctly, it also helps get more local customers walking into your business.

Hot or cold. Bitter or sweet. Day or night. Happy or sad. Friend or foe. Sometimes we tend to see our world in absolutes – black or white. But we know there is plenty of gray area to make us question it all. In the marketing world, inbound and outbound marketing is one of those areas. While neither is absolutely good or evil, it’s how you use it that makes all the difference.

It’s finally that time. Your company is growing so much that you recognize you can’t do all of the marketing on your own, and you want to hire a consultant to help. With all of the marketing channels out there today, hiring a consultant is both needed and dreaded.

It’s needed because you want someone who is full time ‘immersed’ in the marketing world, who can give your company the best marketing services.

It’s dreaded, because you wonder deep down how to know if you’re hiring someone who can help you be successful. Are they any good? Can you trust them? Consider the following questions that all online marketing consultants should be able to answer. Ask these – and if you don’t get a good answer – keep on moving.

In the business world, the concept of SEO is becoming more and more popular. Search engine optimization is important for the internet presence of businesses. Unfortunately with growing popularity, companies that provide SEO services are creeping into our business lives mostly via our inboxes. But what is so wrong with these services if they guarantee to help your business grow?

Do you want to be known in your area and have more potential customers walking through your door wanting your product or services? Local internet marketing is your answer. It’s important as a business to be able to be found on the internet when potential customers are searching for something they are looking for in your area.

Remember the good ‘ole days when companies used to only send snail mail to get your attention? Catalogs, coupons, and company newsletters galore would fill your mailbox, along with the daily bills, mountains of junk mail, and maybe a personal card or letter if you were special.

Have you heard of inbound marketing? Maybe you are an expert at it, and no further explanation is needed. Or maybe you have heard of it, and think it is simply another term for internet marketing or SEO. Or, you have never heard of it at all and a good explanation would be helpful. You’re in luck.

The most successful businesses are using content marketing. Why? Because it works. Content marketing attracts and retains customers by creating and curating relevant and valuable content that they actually want and need. Content marketing is helpful and doesn’t come off as annoying like some traditional marketing methods.

Meet social media Sarah. When it comes to her personal social media pages she never misses an opportunity for a stellar status update. She’s a great Facebook friend. She’s terrific at Twitter. Her LinkedIn profile is professional. Her Instagram is incredible. She manages all of her personal social media accounts flawlessly. It’s fun for her and she’s good at it, which is why she thinks she could do it as a career, no problem.

Poor Sarah. She doesn’t know that there are some big differences between social media for personal and business use. She needs social media consulting if she’s going to even think about doing it professionally.