OrangeSoda Internet Marketing Blog

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4 Tips for Managing an Outside Consultant
By: Cathy Siciliano, Senior Director of Marketing at Elance

More and more small businesses are hiring outside consultants to help them get their work done. In fact, new project postings on Elance, an online workplace where you can find and hire outside consultants, have increased 68% since this time last year.

But how do you hire an outside consultant, and what is the best way to manage the project to make sure you get on-time, high quality work? Read on for tips from Cathy Siciliano, senior director of marketing at Elance. Cathy regularly works with outside consultants and has successfully managed dozens of remote projects:

1. Be specific
The job description should be specific. Include the purpose of the project, information about your business, key project components, skills you are looking for, list of deliverables, and a timeline.

Not sure where to begin? Browse the thousands of projects posted on Elance to get an idea of how other businesses just like yours have written job descriptions for remote work.

2. Hire for a ‘starter’ project
I’ve heard this tip from several elancers: break your big project into small chunks and hire a consultant for just one piece. During this starter project, you can observe how the consultant communicates with you, learn about their work style, and take note of the quality of the work delivered. This will help you learn if this person is a good fit for your bigger project.

3. Define success
What is the outcome you want at the end of the project? When and how do you think you’ll get there?

Your answers to these questions are your definition of success, so share them with the person you hire. This will help set expectations for both of you, and open up communication about how you will work together.

Sure, sounds good, but how do you actually do this?

Let’s say you want to hire a PHP programmer to build a website for your business. Maybe you would define success as a fully functional, live website that your customers can interact with. This is your final deliverable. The way you get to the final deliverable – each individual step – is a key project milestone.

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Generally, a consultant works outside of your office, so you won’t be able to casually check in or catch up with them in the hallway. To keep the project moving forward, schedule weekly checkpoints, in addition to the checkpoints on key deliverables.

Following these four steps will get you on your way to managing a successful project that adds value to your business.

Peter Shankman made a good point about social media:

“…if you don’t know how to network in the first place, all social media can do is give you the chance to screw up to a much larger group of people in a much shorter amount of time.”

This requires you to be more open-minded. If you approach social media as one-sided (it’s all about you or your business) your participation will come across as marketing, not networking. People won’t consider you a value to their network, but spam. Before you talk, start becoming more aware of your industry and the people in it. Listen to the conversations and become informed. If you don’t have time or dedication to this, perhaps social media isn’t the best venue for your business right now.

I hear a lot lately that the press release is dead. Or that your press release isn’t enough. You must use social media press releases. They’ll have you think that a press release must to be transformed to include social media, including video, images, and/or podcasts. This is not true.

Instead, the press release has evolved. It’s now online and the audience has shifted from a journalist to your customer or web searcher. Instead of being distributed by people, it’s more often by a search engine.

Traditional media don’t often use press releases as sources of news. They search for news in search engines and they read blogs. Most get stories via email pitches. Today, your press release goes directly to search engines, your peers, and potential customers. And there is great value in this.

So what is a press release good for?

• Traffic to your web site.
• A formal permanent record online (content directly from you).
• Rankings in search engines
• Building a positive reputation and name recognition for your business starting online and sometimes spreading offline too (television, newspaper or magazine articles, etc).
• Getting your name out regularly, and provide a more formal representation of your business than other mediums. Get wider distribution online by using a press release distribution web site like PRWeb that puts you in the largest online news sites.

Writing a press release shouldn’t be the only thing that you do to market your business. They should be an ongoing part of your overall online marketing strategy.

The power of a press release is just how quickly you can get it in front of 10,000 eyes and go directly to the people you are speaking to. Through a feed reader, a tweet, a social media page, an email list you joined, etc. It’s so fast and immediate. You write a press release and it’s permanently in search engines the next day.

Sure people can read information on your blog, but that is a more informal way to communicate. It has opinion and is usually more informal (not filtered through legal or marketing). A blog is often just one person’s point of view.

Go ahead and send out personal emails to journalists or bloggers who cover the topic and summarize the main points of the news. Don’t just send out a press release though. Bullet point the main ideas and include a link for reference. Give your contact information.

The way you write a press release for online distribution is different than it’s been in the past.

• You should be very SPECIFIC in the terms you use.
• Because people are using search engines to research your company or niche, you should pay attention to the keywords you use, how you use them, and how often you use them.
• You should include links in your press release to further information. Most people use no links or only link to the main page of their web site. Instead, link to specific pages or documents (you may need to create them) that relate to the story.
• You should use keywords as the link text.
• You should make your press release scannable and easy to read. Shorter paragraphs, subheadings, etc.
• Don’t use your business terminology and language unless you’re marketing to another business. Instead use the specific words and terms that your audience uses. How do you find out what those are? Keyword research, your own web site analytics.
• Get in the habit of using a lot of descriptive words that you often assume people know. Search engines classify and determine meaning through context. So use common terms and use lots of  related words.

Here’s a practical example: a professional organizer offers organizing services. One service is helping clients organize paper. I start by typing in the words: “how, organize” into a keyword tool. I find out the ways people are searching for information about organizing.

I learn one phrase is people want to know “how to organize and file paper documents.” So the next time the organizer is doing a workshop on this subject, the press release goes out with the headline “Oragnizing Expert Speaks on How to Organize and File Paper Documents.” The press release would include words like file, organizing a home office, paper documents, and specific types of documents people commonly file.

There’s your crash course in online press releases. It’s late notice, but if you want to learn more I’m going to present (Janet Meiners Thaeler) on the online press release at Startup Princess Retreat next week. The event is for women in business and OrangeSoda is one of the sponsors.

Marketing to Women Online Retreate

November 7-8th, 2008 at the Midway, Utah * Zermatt Resort & Spa.

Register here.

Utah Business Magazine recognized OrangeSoda in the October 2008 issue. We were noted as part of the top 20 of Utah’s High Tech companies. The tech companies were all started by entrepreneurs - and you’ll see we’re in good company! I’m a big fan of Klymit and Sendside Networks and some of the other companies highlighted.

The issue also includes an article about search engine optimization. It lists Utah companies who provide SEO services for businesses, including OrangeSoda.

Note: You must register on the site to view the article at http://www.utahbusiness.com/parser.php?nav=article&article_id=7406. Ask me how I feel about their web site (not to mention the URLs)! You need us for some search engine optimization!

UPDATE: The articles are called: High Tech 20 and The Search Begins - Search Engine Optimization Captures Relevant Customers.

Utah has a very vibrant tech culture - we’re active and networked. Utah also has a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit and many businesses are started here. Plus, Utah’s economy is doing better than most of the nation.

EXAMPLE: At a recent TweetUp (an informal gathering of Utahns who are on Twitter) I learned that Utah has one of the most active Twitter users. Wells Fargo sponsored the event (great food - thanks!) and flew in two people to attend. We had over 20 people and most either blogged or twittered about Wells Fargo’s social media. Most did both. So if you want some exposure for your business or campaigns, Utah is a great place to generate some buzz.

I recently met with a CEO based in the Czech Republic who is looking to relocate either to Salt Lake City, Utah or Miami, Florida. Utah probaby has more tech talent but Miami was offering better incentives (at the time we spoke).

Thanks to Jay Bean and the other founders of OrangeSoda for starting an amazing company. This is the second successful online company they have started. I hope Utah politicians will favor legistlation that supports the Utah tech community so we can continue to expand and attract/retain talent.

I just got off a call with reporters that gave some great insights in how to get media coverage for a business. Ideally you’ll get stories both off and online.

Reporters use the Internet to find and develop stories, if you’re a PR firm looking to get your clients noticed, your first focus should be online. “I don’t know how I did my job without the Internet” claimed one journalist.

The Internet is how you reach reporters. Start with email, get onto blogs, and invest in SEO.

What’s DEAD in PR:

• Press releases - most journalists don’t read them.
• Inviting reporters to lunch, for coffee, your event, or to meet you in person. They’re too busy.
• Calling reporters to check to see if they got your pitch or have any questions. It drives them crazy and they won’t respond. They’ll call you if they’re interested.
• Sending press kits, spiffs, or other free things in the mail. Most end up with the doorman or in the trash.
• Sending pictures with an email pitch. They take up too much room, if they cover the story they’ll ask for pictures or their staff will take some.

What’s HOT in PR:

• Getting stories from blogs. Reporters read blogs to get story ideas. Most of the time it’s easier to get on a blog than reach a journalist.
• Getting your story into search engines. Reporters use search engines ALL THE TIME. So if you come up high on the page of results, you’re more likely to get covered. SEO is money well-spent.
• Personalized email pitches. Put the angle in the subject line and get right to the point. Show that you’ve done some homework and know what the reporter covers. Email is probably the best way to reach a reporter after you’ve identified which ones cover your topic.
• Stories about how the economy is directly affecting your business. This will probably be hot for at least a year. How is the economy changing your behavior, affecting your customers, etc.

So forget all the work and money you’ve put into press kits, press releases (except online PR which can help your SEO), and exclusive events. Get to know the blogosphere and talk to OrangeSoda about doing SEO for your clients!

Court at Court’s School of Internet Marketing wrote about how to rank high on a particular keyword. This is one approach that can help your SEO efforts to rank on very competitive keywords. We apply many approaches based on the need of the business or client and their budgets.

Rather than going after the biggest most competitive term, you can circle around your keyword phrase by providing content about related topics. He uses the example of trying to rank for “cell phones.” That is going to be difficult. It could cost a lot of money and still take years.

Many small businesses don’t understand or grasp how competitive and difficult it is to rank well on some terms. It’s not tangible like real estate is - but just like in real life - location is everything on search engines. You want to come up in the top 10 search results for key terms relating to your business. So do a lot of other businesses. The more people who want to rank the more difficult it is to get to the top.

So rather than going directly at a large keyword phrase like “cell phones” you can add articles or blog posts about subtopics like ‘how to change a cell phone battery’ or “most popular ring tones for your cell phone.”

“Stringing together 50 or so keywords like that one on a single site will help you to start getting somewhere for ‘cell phones’, even though you haven’t tried specifically for cell phones. Why? Google and other search engines know that the terms are related.”

So try to rank well on these smaller less competitive terms and it will help your rankings on more competitive terms. I must add that your writing should be very specific - more detailed than you’re probably used to being. Write using very descriptive and specific terms to describe a topic.

So come up with a list of keywords for your site (maybe even getting these from your web stats or PPC data to see what people are interested in). Use those keywords to create articles. Notify other sites that cover that topic, and repeat. This is why blogging is so effective when combined with traditional SEO. It allows you to easily target related subjects and build authority for them which will help bolster your bigger keyword phrases. Using this approach we can effectivey partner with businesses to help them get rankings quicker - including actually writing the content.

Court also breaks down factors that search engines use to decide how to rank web sites, such as:

• Using keywords throughout your entire site
• Which sites you’re getting links from (the more relevant and popular they are for the keyword the better)
• What words a site uses to make the link to you (anchor text).

I would add the words that you use to link from page to page within your site (anchor text) or from post to post (inter-linking).

Thanks for a great post Court!

I just read an email from Flyte Media with the title: Does Your Small Business Really Need a Social Media Strategy?

The answer, is YES! Especially in a slow economy. Getting involved before your competitors are gives you an advantage.

Rich Brooks goes on to detail how Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Skype, YouTube, and LinkedIn have helped his business. He also talks about why this trend to use social media in marketing a small business has so much attention. Social media does not a linear, predictable relationship but a hodgepodge of interactions that can and usually do result in ROI.

Here are some example of how social media has helped his small business (wish I were a graphic designer because this would make a fun diagram):

• Someone finds you on Twitter and asks you to do a small job. That leads into something bigger - a regular contract. Or that person is happy with the small job and tells someone else about you when they need a similar service. Or the happy customer blogs about you and brings you more business. All started on Twitter.
• You reconnect with an old friend on Facebook who then sees what you do and hires you for a job for their business or company. Or they recommend you when someone they know needs internet marketing help.
  Note: a lot of companies haven’t considered that they need internet marketing until they learn what it is. Many people assume I build web sites. I never build web sites, only market existing ones.
• You travel to another state and while you’re there you set up meetings with people you exchange tweets with so you can meet them in real life.
• You read someone’s blog then meet in real life at a conference. You then follow each other on Twitter. You “friend” each other on Facebook,
• You post and answer questions on LinkedIn (like, can you recommend someone for this job?) and use Skype to talk in real life to people all over the world.

I’ll add my own - a CEO from another country is scoping out a new place to do business. He reads my blog and contacts me. Someone else is wondering if they should invest in a company I’ve worked with and wants my opinion. These are people who never would’ve found me if I weren’t visible - in this case - through my blog.

Rich talks about a common phenomenon - people think either these social sites are a waste of time or they can’t see how it can help a business. He points out that he had about 800 tweets (Twitter posts) before he ever got a job. You can’t predict when this networking will benefit you, but if you invest in it at some point it will happen, especially if you’re one of the only ones in your industry on that network.

Each Social Network has its Own Culture

What follows is that if you’re going to try to join the community, you’ll need to learn the culture.

Bloggers have egos that are massaged when you leave insightful comments on their blog, blog about them and link back, or put them on your blogroll.

Twitterers like it when you message them and expose them to your network, helping them gain new followers (if you have a good network). They like it when you answer their questions or respond to their requests or “retweet” their posts.

Please add your knowledge of the culture on the social networks you frequent in the comments below.

You first watch and listen and get a sense for how things work before jumping in and looking foolish (some social media sites are more tolerant of newcomers than others).  It’s like visiting another country - you don’t want to offend people by acting until you have some sense of what’s appropriate.

He notes:

“Use social media the right way and you will create and strengthen relationships. You won’t have to chase customers, you’ll attract them.”

That is a very different mindset - attracting new customers rather than trying to persuade or cajole them into paying attention to you or responding to your advertisement. Doesn’t that sound great? It is. And as Rich points out it’s a lot of fun.

And with that I’m going to “follow” Rich on Twitter and trackback to his blog post.

A new study by Marchex, Inc. shows that many advertisers are not doing locally targeted advertisements. While many (over 70 percent or the 150 advertisers surveyed) are advertising online, about half are doing local online advertising.

The advertisers want to do more local online advertising, aren’t quite sure how to approach it. Few local advertisers are running ads targeted to city, or zip code. They also cite limited success metrics to measure how their campaigns are performing.

Here are some more findings:

• Almost half said that at least 25% of their in-store sales were driven by online marketing.
• More than half use different messaging or tactics to target different geographic or local markets. 45% use the same messaging despite targeting different geographic/local markets.

Marchex recommends that online advertisers:

• Diversify and manage traffic sources beyond paid search (SEO!)
• Use landing pages to drive leads to specific locations and markets
• Track and analyze all consumer actions - including calls (as in call tracking), emails, form submissions, map prints, and coupons - resulting from local online advertising efforts including determining results and ROI
• Tailor ads to local markets and using local call tracking numbers to measure and help generate more phone calls to your business.

Again, a phone call is an important marketing event, one that you can track inexpensively. You can drive local online advertising to a phone number that can be tracked so you’ll know where the call came from, how long the call was, and other metrics.

Seth Godin says: “The most valuable marketing event is almost always an inbound phone call…The customer or prospect is taking the time to call you. She’s focused, interested, paying attention and willing to trust you.”

OrangeSoda specializes in local online advertising solutions for small to mid-sized businesses. We have an internal tracking system and a call tracking option so businesses can gauge the impact of their work. We also work with our clients to target their advertising by zip code, area, city, and state.

I interviewed an OrangeSoda employee about our take on local advertisers and where the pain point is:
The best thing businesses advertising locally is add tracking to their web site. We are continually surprised by the number of businesses who come to us looking for help with their online marketing and do not have any tracking system on their websites.

We’ve found that most of these businesses aren’t aware of the many free or low cost tools that are out there that will help them understand where their web visitors are coming from and how they can increase the number of sales that are coming from those visitors.

Helping local advertisers has been one of Orange Soda’s strengths, especially with our easy-to-use Fizz reporting system. With just a few lines of code added to their website, local advertisers can quickly and easily see where their sales are coming from.