Category: Marketing

Gotta love getting snail mail from the mothership!

We get lots of questions from folks interested in ​improving their position in Google searches but who aren’t quite ready to jump into a paid solution like we offer.

​If you’re looking for “cheap SEO” (we didn’t coin this term), you’re in luck and have quite a few options. Here are a few free resources that you should definitely consider:

​1. Create an account for your site or blog with Google Analytics. If you have a Google Account (GMail), you’re halfway there. Google Analytics isn’t perfect, but it’s more than most folks new to SEO or site optimization will ever need.

2. Sign up for Google Webmasters Central. It has a little bit of a learning curve but the payoff is certainly worth the thirty minutes you’ll spend. From learning about sitemaps to addressing problems that the GoogleBot might have indexing certain pages or parts of your sites, Webmasters Central is a goldmine of a reference site.

3. If you happen to have your site or blog on WordPress as a self-install (you pay a host like MediaTemple or BlueHost and install WordPress on a server yourself… not wordpress.com), then check out the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin. Yoast does a great job of walking you through easy steps to make your WordPress site more “Google Friendly” and will help you optimize options like your sitemaps and XML. Again… nothing free is perfect, but it’s a good start.

4. SEOMoz has a great page on what to expect when expecting Do-It-Yourself keyword management. Keyword research is insanely important. We stress this so much with our clients and we’re always amazed when people overlook this critical component of website and brand success. This is part of a larger book and not completely up-to-date, but will help you get a start when you’re ready to start dabbling with AdSense.

As always, get in touch with us when you’re ready to take your site or business to the next level. As strange as it sounds, we love helping people discover the power of search and what it can mean to their business, especially when combined with a healthy social media plan. But start playing with these tools and see what you can do for yourself.​

For some reason last year, I didn’t run in many fall 5Ks and as I was running and training this summer, I realized I missed the scene and the energy that encompass a Saturday morning run for a good cause. 

Asheville is the perfect place to get re-engaged in the running scene (although I would suggest hiding in the middle of the pack and not pushing your way to the front of the start line) because you have people who are passionate about running and people who are passionate about helping! 

It’s intoxicating to be a part of this kind of community and to understand the world is bigger than you and your own issues. 

So as I sit here drinking my post race coffee, I am happy that I was able to support Autism Society of NC and Harrelson Agency. 

Oh, but I am definitely checking out the course map next time so as not to be surprised by quarter mile hills that lurk around mile 2!

We encourage our clients to embed a contact form into their websites because :

1. it transfers communication about bookings and/or business to their website rather than their inbox with their dentist appointments and child’s soccer schedule. 
2. the form collects valuable data that can be used for other purposes ​

Plus, when you realize how many people really want to contact you, it makes you feel good inside! 

At Harrelson Agency, we know that discovery marketing is revolutionizing how consumers search and interact. When I am looking for a place to stop as I am traveling, I know what I want. I know the foods that I like and the foods I don’t like, so I am going to wait and stop where I like, which leads me to search for a specific restaurant.

And I’m going to search with my directions app.

That changes the marketing world even if that’s not how you discover. Even if that’s not how your employees discover.

It’s how consumers discover.

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There is nothing better than having your client ask, “Could we….” and your being able to answer yes! You can see the hesitation because they have had experiences where other marketing or technology agencies have said, “No.”

Discovering that your story can be told well and that there are more possibilities than you thought is important because it leads to new learning and new challenges. There is something powerful about discovering for yourself.

As I discover what my clients see, I see them discovering new possibilities and avenues for themselves. I see their identities and audiences expanding to more than they thought, but the best part of all this discovery is that it’s the way marketing works now.

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Website is only a piece of the puzzle. 

We like to find other agencies and learn more about what they do! Rock on, Blue Ion! 

I try to explain to student writers that there is something powerful about talking around your point. It’s a strategy called showing and not telling. By using an interaction, a conversation or an observation you can show your audience what you mean.

It may seem unrelated, but as I have talked to clients, I have realized that too often marketing strategies are straightforward explanations rather than real life experiences. When you include these experiences that have shaped your story and your journey to where you are, you draw your audience in because they can connect with you.

Maybe show, don’t tell isn’t just for writing.

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Forbes:​

The perception of social media marketing has shifted quickly—no longer viewed as a trendy or passing fad, having a flexible and well-managed presence in each of the “big three” (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) has become a must for any business seeking to secure a place in both the traditional and digital marketplace.

We’ve quickly entered a brave new world where social media matters infinitely more than most businesses guessed it would a few years ago.​

Don’t get caught left behind.​

Awesome thick (like hard card stock with red in between) business cards from the always awesome Moo shop for The Harrelson Agency…

You have to love that Apple-like design aesthetic of their entire presentation.​

These cards are amazing. You should ask for one soon.​