Articles and Press Releases Written by Sara Pentz

What Makes a Good Writer
Start With The Who

By Sara Pentz

Then ask the how, when, where and what. These questions are the basis of good writing. But the essence of writing is the answer to the question why. Ask why and you'll discover the reason a product was created, a service is needed and a person is valuable.

I am a writer with years of experience in many forms of print and media communications. I have written for radio, television, newspapers, internal journals, trade publications and magazines. I have ghost written articles, optimized press releases, and created speeches in the voice of the speaker. I have written public relations and marketing plans. And I have taught master classes for both small business entrepreneurs and for university students.

I have written about real estate, art and architcture, theater, science, new products, aviation, manufacturing, high tech equipment, lasers and measuring equipment, fashions, the media, search optimization, film and video production, and much more. A good writer can write about any subject with enough research and dedication.

My expertise lies in my ability to pull information from people through a question-asking process that will give the end product a unqiue angle, perspective or insight.

To ask 'why' is to question.

To continue asking 'why' is to understand.

Universal Healthcare is What's Sicko
By Gen LaGreca

Michael Moore says he made the film, "Sicko," to "ignite a fire for free, universal healthcare." How absurd is it for someone seeking proper healthcare to take an odyssey to Communist Cuba? That Moore's camera-rolling entourage would receive the same healthcare as a Cuban citizen stretches even a child's imagination. His film should be renamed "Another Celebrity Falls for Dictator's Dog-and-Pony Show."

People like Moore believe capitalism is the disease and government takeover the cure for our healthcare ills. They think people have a "right" to free healthcare simply because they need it.

If so, why stop at medicine? Couldn't we claim the same "right" to other necessities? Take food, for instance. What if the government seized control of the food industry and fed us for free with a new entitlement, "Foodcare"?

Initially Foodcare will empty the horn of plenty into your lap. With your appetite and wallet parting company, the lobster you ate only on your birthday will become regular fare, as will your favorite Belgian chocolates and filet mignon.

Because the same idea occurs to 300 million others, costs skyrocket, and a Foodcare crisis develops. Big Brother can no longer foot the bill for your busy mouth, so he must limit your mastication. This requires new agencies, bureaucrats, and a 100,000-page rulebook.

You visit your favorite restaurant to find it changed. Gone are the tablecloths, flowers, and cheerful hostess to greet you, enhancements you had gladly paid for in the price of your meal. The Department of Restaurants eliminated them as frivolous indulgences of the people’s resources.

The menu is reduced to a few modest offerings. Missing are the savory specials of the talented chef, whose last creation took forty pounds---not of ingredients but of paperwork---to gain approval from the New Recipe Administration.

You want steak, but getting it requires that the chef call a central office to obtain pre-authorization. With the clock ticking and a long line waiting to slide into your barely warm seat, you order hamburger instead. You notice your neighbor eating steak—and sitting at the best table. You remember when he was laid off and you bought him dinner. Back then, he thanked you for your charity and quickly got another job. But now that he has a “right” to food, he's stopped working to eat courtesy of your tax dollars.

You barely recognize the frazzled chef buried in paperwork. The once happy figure doting over your every need now slaves for a new master, one that denies his fee for serving Cognac, second-guesses his decision to make cheesecake, requires a Certificate of Need to buy an oven. You know that under Foodcare he's merely biding time till retirement. When he goes, you doubt he’ll be replaced because enrollment in chef’s schools has dropped as the number of bureaucrats hounding them has risen.

As time passes, everyone forgets how it started, but the crisis worsens. Michael Moore makes a pilgrimage to North Korea in search of adequate food.

You realize that the amount you pay into Foodcare exceeds what you had paid when you bought your own food and didn't obtain it for “free.” Then you didn't pay for bureaucrats and inspectors to tell you what to eat, or for those milking the system like your neighbor. Besides emptying your wallet, Foodcare has drained all the pleasure you once derived from eating.

Politicians blame their scapegoat, the capitalists---grocers, chefs, food manufacturers---and pass laws to prevent any from owning a Mercedes while someone goes to bed hungry in America. They tell us profit is evil and free food for all is a moral ideal.

You wonder: Is there something wrong with this picture? The ideal isn't the private system, with happy chefs and grocers earning a good living in return for their talent and entrepreneurial risk, and satisfied customers enjoying a Shangri La of affordable food. The ideal isn't a spectacular abundance, with everyone's standard of eating---including the poor---raised dramatically, and this achieved without government force---without fleecing taxpayers and robbing consumers and suppliers of their freedom to make their own personal choices and to interact voluntarily. Instead, the ideal is to transform free, self-determining individuals into state-controlled puppets.

The Foodcare scenario is actually playing out in healthcare. Once the gold standard of the world, American medicine has fallen to its knees from decades of crippling regulation, with the final blow about to come from universal healthcare.

To stop this despotism we must repudiate the notion that healthcare is a right. No one has a right to demand for free the goods and services produced by others. We have the right to liberty, which means the freedom to take action to further our own lives---to work, earn money, and pay for the things we need---while respecting the same rights of others. We don't have any right to enact laws to seize people's money, control their activities, and force them to provide services on terms dictated by Big Brother.

No good can result when the means used to achieve it are plunder and coercion. Universal healthcare merits the label "sicko"---or more accurately "tyranny."

Genevieve (Gen) LaGreca is the author of Noble Vision, an award-winning novel about a doctor's fight for freedom in a state-run health system. www.wingedvictorypress.com

THE NECESSITY OF SYNERGISM IN SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
Why do we advocate using all elements of SEM?
Because to do so will make websites more successful and profitable!

While it may seem like a cliché to talk about the importance of synergy in life and business, it is not. In fact, successful businesses thrive on synergy, the process that allows greater results from two or more influences or agents acting together. Good marketing professionals know this.

The definition of synergy explains why it is critical to Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

* It is a mutually advantageous conjunction where the whole is greater than the

sum of the parts;

* It is a dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the sum of

individual component actions;

* It is behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their parts taken

separately.

Roget’s Thesaurus gives us some interesting synonyms for the synergistic force:

- cooperation, mutual effort, alliance, assistance, collaboration, combined effort,

in concert, harmony, symbiosis, teamwork, union, unity.

Search Engine Marketing calls for a unique kind of synergy. It requires that the elements that make Search Engine Marketing (SEM) successful be allied in harmony with each other. Several important elements of SEM, when combined, produce results that are far greater than if only one or two of the elements are used to optimize a website. These elements include the use of ‘natural’ and ‘editorial’ Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click, plus an assortment of other issues including web design, landing pages and email capture.

In this document we will address how and what elements need to be combined in order to establish the whole. They are the code and content of natural SEO. Why editorial search engine results are perceived to be more trustworthy and fact that editorial coverage is 3 to 5 times more effective than advertising. Why content, content, content, is the most important aspect of SEM and how and why articles placed on websites, if properly created content will substantially increase rankings and traffic. And why a properly optimized press release will reach targeted writers and editors by allowing their filters to identify content relevant to their area of expertise.

Other issues dealt with here include how and why Pay-Per-Click delivers immediate, guaranteed results. In addition, writing targeted titles and descriptions for your keywords and key phrases, and developing targeted landing pages to give your site multiple points of entry will dramatically improve your PPC results. Why the first step of SEM is doing your homework; why it is vital to research keywords thoroughly BEFORE writing web copy and other marketing and editorial materials. How email campaigns can be a powerful marketing tool as another part of the synergy mix.

There is a discussion of how and why converting visitors can be managed. Conversion rate is a key website advertising metric that measures how well or how badly website is doing regardless of traffic levels. Website tracking and analytics monitor visitors’ behavior. These statistics are used to make decisions that will benefit the overall effectiveness of the website. Why A/B split testing increases conversion rates, challenges assumptions and solves problems. How this form of testing determines which elements on a page are helping the performance of a web page, and which are not.

Statistics show that by using SEM elements synergistically websites become more successful. Each element helps individually to push and convert a website visitor from a casual viewer to a buying customer. That’s called conversion. And it must be done almost instantly. That’s why design, ease of navigation and content are so critical to the mass, as well. If a serious visitor lands on a website and is confused or repelled by the design, he will leave within about two seconds.

Studies indicate that SEM used in concert with all SEO elements is an effective brand builder and this branding effect is amplified when all elements of SEM are coordinated by the marketing team. Teamwork involves understanding the SEM elements, knowing their value and working with them to increase sales and ROI.

By taking advantage of all SEM opportunities, you greatly increase your chances of being first-in-mind from the searcher’s perspective.

Let’s take e a look at the SEM options.

Natural SEO

Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process that aligns a website's code and content with strategic keyword phrase targeting and ultimately assisting a search engine algorithm in understanding a website's keyword focus. SEO can be simple for some websites, while others may require intense website code, content, navigation and internal linking changes. This form of SEO increases the natural/organic search engine rankings.

Editorial SEO
Editorial Search Engine Optimization involves several elements: the way the web copy is written, how and where copy is used, why particular copy is chosen for the site, the use of optimized articles with notable references and links, and the distribution of optimized press releases that will link to various landing pages on the website. All of these elements must be included simultaneously in order to gain a higher click-rate for the site.

Editorial search engine results are perceived to be more trustworthy. Editorial provides a site with real branding and trust, if the content is written properly. It is a fact that editorial coverage is 3 to 5 times more effective than advertising. These results can be likened to articles that appear in a magazine. The credibility that enhances the website is superior to that of an advertisement in almost all cases.

Content, Content, Content
Content is the most important aspect of SEM. Since we often liken the ‘property’ we own on the Internet to ‘real estate,’ the idea that it is all about location, location, location can be converted to content, content, content. Search engines feed and thrive on content. This is what the web users are searching for and because of this - content is also what the search engines are seeking. If properly created content will substantially increase rankings and traffic.

There are many forms of content that one can add to a website including specifically defined web page content, articles, blogs, forums, podcasts and videocasts. This also includes content that is on other sites and is linked to your site. Content must be absolutely targeted to an audience you have selected and then it must be very well written. The best written and intelligent copy by a professional writer will give you a higher visibility, trust and respect (branding, too) than copy that is not well written.

The difference between writing copy for websites and writing copy for articles is like apples and oranges. Web copy must be keyword rich and that requires the use of measuring the value of the keywords for the site and using them throughout the copy in a manner acceptable by the search engines.

Press Releases
Sending a press release to the media is part of the mix – and an important one. Especially with the expanding number of people writing about products and services in the fast-paced media world that now includes Internet journalists. Newspapers, magazines, journals, blogs and other formats have a voracious appetite for content. They consume information; chew it up, spit it out and need more incoming information to write about the next day, week, month or hour.

A search engine optimized press release begins with a strategy session on which search terms should be targeted. Linking optimized press releases to the website helps reporters, writers and commentators learn more background about your content and at the same time gives the search engines links to follow. Optimized releases also immediately notify search engines of the existence of the new web pages that the release links to. Including photos to download and identifying graphics with keywords will give the journalists additional content to include in articles and other content they are creating.

A properly optimized press release will reach targeted writers and editors by allowing their filters to identify content relevant to their area of expertise. It can also reach potential clients and interested parties. When the press release is published, the content is often expanded exponentially. It is also true that optimized press release will automatically generate pages rich in optimized content and even spawn email blasts based on keyword selection by companies like Google, Yahoo and others interested in the subject of the press release.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Pay-Per-Click delivers immediate, guaranteed results. It has been said that Pay-Per-Click is very close to a pure form of a market economy because advertisers bid on "keywords" that they believe their target market will type into the search bar when they are looking for their product or service needs and desires.

PPC advertising provides website owners the opportunity to buy their way to better positions on search results pages. These ads are called "sponsored links" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to and sometimes above the natural or organic results on the page. The advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad.

PPC is important to the overall plan of SEM because it has the advantage of almost instant, guaranteed results. In addition, PPC gives real time market research while also generating revenue. In other words, when you buy your keyword and see the results in visits and action taken, you have done your research because you now know which keywords work for the specific website.

Strategic Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program management and media buying provide an immediate method of delivering visitors to your site with placement and top rankings on Google, MSN, and Overture, plus a number of other high-quality, lower-cost PPC search engines.

There is a very popular approach from some search engine marketers to focus only on using PPC for keyphrases. As a result the site does not achieve high natural rankings. While this approach can certainly save money, it runs counter to the branding benefits that are naturally a part of the marketing plan.

Writing targeted titles and descriptions for your keywords and key phrases, and developing targeted landing pages to give your site multiple points of entry will dramatically improve your PPC results. These results can be further improved with A/B Split Testing and Multivariable Testing. These landing pages also need to be optimized to attract natural traffic and increase your PPC results.

Keyword Research and Use

One must know exactly what keywords to purchase and to use in the web copy. This is actually the first step of SEM because if the keywords are insignificant or off target the site will not be recognized for its value. Careful research of the company’s business and the way search engines look at those related keywords is the ‘key’ to success. Choosing the wrong ones will greatly reduce your results.

This is why it is vital to research keywords thoroughly BEFORE writing web copy and other marketing and editorial materials. The keywords you identify should also be used in your offline marketing and advertising campaigns. Waiting until after the site is built to identify the proper keywords will add costs to the project, cause delays and loss of revenue. Choosing good keywords is the basis on which all of your future traffic will flow.

Assign certain keyword phrases to specific pages and build the content around them. There are “hotspots” on web pages that search engines look for when they are indexing your pages. The most important hotspots are the page title, the page description and the page heading. By incorporating keyword phrase into these hotspots the search engine will ‘understand’ what your page is all about. Sprinkle in some eye-popping copy with your keyword phrase repeated once or twice to increase keyword density.

Comprehensive keyword research by its very nature improves ROI.

Email Campaigns

Successful companies that spend significant time and money on SEM know that getting the customer to the website is just part of the process. When they arrive having a well planned email opt-in registration and email marketing program will further increase company ROI.

According to a MediaPost MediaDailyNews article, Jupiter Media Metrix says that one-third of companies plan to spend more than 5 percent of their marketing budgets on email. That represents serious spending in this medium and makes a statement about the importance of email campaigns.

Email can be a powerful marketing tool and is another part of the synergy mix. Email content must be relevant, targeted and informational. It is more likely you'll have to package sales-y content in such a way that it entertains and holds interest. Boring content, or content not consistent with the value proposition, will cause people to unsubscribe.

Deliver what consumers expect. Establish yourself and your website as a credible source in order to accomplish the goal of building customer relationships. It is also important to use a reputable “White Listed” email service provider to insure the highest deliverability rates and one that will keep you in compliance with the email spam laws.

Determine what the ultimate value proposition is for consumers. Why would they want to receive email from your company? What content would they expect? Of all the components needed to successfully build an effective email list, the most important component is the value proposition to the consumer. This is best achieved by hiring professional writers with email experience.

Website Conversion
Conversion rate is a key website advertising metric that allows you to measure how well or how badly your website is doing regardless of traffic levels. Conversion rates vary from website to website. The conversion measurement is the number of visitors who make a purchase directly from the website as a percentage of total visitors.

In a medium that makes it so easy for a searcher to look elsewhere, conversion is critical. The net effect of raising your conversion rate from one to two percent is the same as doubling your traffic.

The key to conversion is targeted key phrases that define your traffic before arrival to the site. It is not uncommon to see conversion rates skyrocket in the quality of traffic by improving targeted key phrase advertising or organic search engine optimization. With PPC campaigns, you can further boost conversion rates by sending visitors to highly targeted landing pages.

The conversion rate for lead generation sites is the number of visitors as a percentage of total visitors who opt-in and give you the right to contact them again. The website should induce visitors to sign up for more information or register to become a part of your community. A successful convert is, therefore, someone who has subscribed to your newsletter, filled in your contact forms, or registered to get more information.

Website Tracking and Analytics

Delivering on the promise and proving it are a vital part of the synergy of SOM. With certain tracking and analytical facts, you can understand visitors’ behavior in order to make decisions that will benefit the overall effectiveness of the website, understand visitor behavior and increase web traffic.

Analytics tell you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site. They tell you how to focus your marketing resources on campaigns and initiatives that deliver ROI and improve your site to convert more visitors.

Analytics provide a quick and easy-to-understand breakdown of a visitor's website movements and behavior. These facts explain the way visitors react to keywords and the navigation paths they take to get where they want to go. Such programs determine which keywords result in greater sales purchases, how long a visitor stays at any given page, and which page they are on when they exit the site. They also determine the quality and effectiveness of a landing page. And, they confirm how pay-per-click campaigns are performing.

If your site doesn't sell online, you can still learn the effectiveness of specific calls-to-action through analytics. Email campaigns can be analyzed for effectiveness. Analytics can determine and help explain why people sign up for your newsletter, for example, and what they have in common with other people.

A/B Split Testing and Multivariable Testing

A/B split testing increases conversion rates, challenges assumptions and solves problems. It determines which elements on a page are helping the performance of a web page, and which are not. For instance, one might typically test two different headlines on a landing page. One of them will outperform the other and you will know which is better for the web page.

A/B split testing assists in the understanding of visitor behaviors and priorities when visiting your site. Used as a diagnostic tool this type of testing will determine what is going wrong and how to fix it. A/B split testing can dramatically challenge assumptions about the best way to design or write a page.

Testing yields the most valuable results only when they are done repeatedly. A one-shot test will determine very little. Make a consistent habit of testing. Cumulative tests over time can have a dramatic impact on the success of the website.

A/B split testing enables you to try variations of your site's landing pages, shopping cart, site search and layout to optimize conversion rates and increase site profitability. It can explain how to create variations of a site's dynamic and static content; how to run A/B tests, multivariate tests, and split tests on visitors, and how to track, segment and analyze visitor conversion behavior, in real-time.

Summary

When these seemingly separate elements of SEM are combined in a unified marketing plan they can complement each other and bring continuing benefits to your business infinitely and exponentially. It may well be the bottom line difference between in house and outsourced expertise.

Research shows that the average increase is 108% when search engine marketing is outsourced vs. 32% when done in-house. While both of these numbers are good, the higher result is worth the extra cost.

Building a successful web entity is much like building a skyscraper. You build from the ground up. That’s why the first step of SEM is researching keywords thoroughly BEFORE writing web copy. Before the building begins, an architect devises an overall plan, including the design (branding and trust) of the building, the construction (copy and editorial elements), the purpose and the goal (sales and information). His architectural plans are based on solid engineering (testing, analytics, tracking, redevelopment and ranking).

Similarly, when the many important elements of SEM are combined, the whole produces results that are far greater than if only one or two of the elements are used to optimize a website.

Do not be surprised when the kind of SEM investment in the parts to create a great whole, advocated here, increases profits and value. It is in the principle of synergism that marks the proof.

PODCASTING PRODUCTION

IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF

THE GROWING NEED TO COMMUNICATE YOUR MESSAGE

OVER THE INTERNET

AS WELL AS TO MARKET YOUR PODCAST

By Sara Pentz

Sara Pentz Production provides podcasting services to businesses, trade and educational associations, non-profits and individuals. We coach, train, create, interview, record, produce, market and post-produce Podcasts. We create Podcasts with content for an audience that wants to listen when they want, where they want, and how they want. We also bring advertisers together with podcasters who would like to make money on their show.

Using our marketing expertise we allow our fully produced Podcasts to be optimized for the search engines. We customize programs and solutions designed to increase Podcast visibility for key audiences by generating highly targeted, well qualified search-engine-generated leads and inquiries. These include keyword research, Google Sitemap Feeds, usability analysis, web analytics, pay-per-click management, contextual advertising, email marketing and ROI tracking.

Producer Sara Pentz works with clients to create relevant formatting and content for Podcasting. She is a professional journalist with a background as a television news reporter/anchor, a radio show host, magazine writer/editor, and newspaper writer.

A podcast is generally analogous to subscription to a recorded television or radio series. Multi purpose podcasts can fill a company’s needs in many ways including making them an authority in their field. You can send your podcasts to employees, subcontractors, business associates, consumers, potential buyers or the media ––– and target each with a specific message.

As a content provider we make a podcast file available on the Internet with an RSS feed. The only requirement is that the file be accessible through some known URL.

HISTORY OF PODCASTING

(With Thanks in part to Wikipedia.com)

Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio or video programs, over the Internet using RSS or syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. Podcasting, as such, has evolved from the original concept, and initial appeal, that allowed individuals to distribute their "radio shows" over the Internet. The process was officially labeled podcasting in early 2004.

The editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary declared "podcasting" the 2005 word of the year, defining the term as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player." It is now generally accepted that the term podcast also includes video.

The concept of podcasting was suggested as early as 1994 but its technical components of using an RSS feed became widely available by 2001. In 2003 regular podcasts started showing up on well-known websites and software support spread.

The system quickly became used in a wide variety of other ways, including distribution of school lessons, official and unofficial audio tours of museums, conference meeting alerts and updates, and by police departments to distribute public safety messages.

Today, podcasting presents a way for individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses and corporations to communicate in a meaningful way to the many millions who participate in the reception of podcasts. It is a powerful marketing tool for those who know how to take advantage of its many benefits.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

(With Thanks again to Wikipedia.com)

The term podcast can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Though podcasters' websites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feeds like RSS.

RSS is a simple XML-based system that allows users to subscribe to their favorite websites. Using RSS, a webmaster can put content into a standardized format, which can be viewed and organized through a RSS-aware software.

The publish/subscribe model of podcasting is a version of push technology, in that the information provider chooses which files to offer in a feed and the subscriber chooses among available feed channels. While the user is not "pulling" individual files from the Web, there is a strong "pull" aspect in that the receiver is free to subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) a vast array of channels.

Podcasting is an automatic mechanism whereby multimedia computer files are transferred from a server to a client, In general, these files contain audio or video, but also could be images, text, PDF, or any file type.

Interestingly, it is estimated that perhaps only 20% of podcasts are actually consumed on portable media players; 80% are consumed on the PC onto which they are downloaded. Some applications, such as iTunes, also automatically make the newly downloaded episodes available to a user's portable media player.

The downloaded episodes can then be played, replayed, sent to others or archived as with any other computer file.

To conserve bandwidth, users may opt to search for content using an online podcast directory or Podcatcher. Some directories allow people to listen online and initially become familiar with the content provided from an RSS Feed before deciding to subscribe. For most broadband users, bandwidth is generally not a major consideration, it could fairly be stated that Podcasting itself is a technology that came with the increases in global bandwidth and broadband popularity.

Venture Capital Angels: Financing for Start Ups
TECH COAST VENTURE NETWORK FORUM

First in a Series “Where Mind Meets Money”

January 26, 2006, Hilton Costa Mesa

Capital ‘angels’ have some $60 to $90 billions to invest in business start ups, but they complete only one or two deals a year–––ranging from $5,000 to $500,000. The funding is available. How does the entrepreneur find it? This was the major message sent at the January 26, 2006 meeting of TCVN’s new series of Forums.

In order to compete for that money you have to have a clearly defined roadmap to funding. It is critical to remember that venture capitalist want to make money as much as the business owner does. To vie for that money you have to be prepared to explain how your business is going to be profitable for everyone involved. Entrepreneurs must also communicate in what way their product or service is needed because that’s what most angels want to know.

Bart Greenberg, TCVN chairman, is launching a series of TCVN programs, “Roadmap to Funding,” specifically designed for unaffiliated angel investors. The programs will focus on how to approach Tech Coast Angels . "We believe there is a very large, untapped source of funding for early-stage deals,” he explains, “I believe many people would like to help fund early-technology companies but simply do not have the time or resources to join formal angel groups. Through out Forums we can help these people meet entrepreneurs and better understand the process of investing in early opportunities.”

Other Forums will endeavor to help early-stage companies break out of "the entrepreneur's dilemma" by bringing credibility, experience and skills to rapidly accelerate progress–––and help position companies for ongoing success in their business’ key fundraising endeavors.

SUMMARY

January 26, 2006, Forum, Hilton Costa Mesa

By Sara Pentz

There are several types of angel investors: the serial angles, freelance angels and the operation value-added angels–––all of whom want to work with start up businesses to build for success. Actually, there are a flock of angels–––they can be individuals working in groups, enthusiast individuals or retirees, and financial tourist angel who are just looking around. There are socially responsible angels; neighborhood angels who live right down the street. And there are celebrity angels who may just be tire-kicking angels.

If you want a private equity investor, there are certain rules to follow. First, you must have a business plan in order to meet the right people. And you must know how to get your deal done. The rules include a good knowledge and understanding of business planning, angel/venture capital financing, capital raising strategies, high tech marketing, strategic alliances, and knowledge of how mergers & acquisitions work.

At this particular meeting of TCVN, the panel consisted of Robert W. Price, Senior Research Fellow, Global Entrepreneurship Institute, Richard J. Dadamo, Founder, RJD Associates, Inc. and Christopher Romine, CEO, S.two Corporation; panel moderator Matt Ridenour, Managing Director, Momentum Venture Management, LLC, who guided and contributed to the discussion.

THE VENTURE CAPITAL PANEL SPEAKS

by Sara Pentz

Robert Price is currently working on his eleventh book. He is world-renowned as an expert in the field of entrepreneurial capitalism and early-stage information technology companies. His clients' business plans have raised nearly $24 million from angel investors, venture capitalists, and strategic capital partners.

He spoke about the importance of having a roadmap for funding. “Know how to raise money, structure your business, and take the risks of the trade,” he explained. “It’s not enough to have an idea about a business you want to grow. You have to know how to put the pieces of puzzle together, and how to get the deal done. You have to know the venture-drill process, the packaging, the placing, the presenting–––what the environment wants and needs in order to buy into your concept. You have to build the business plan. You have to find the right individuals to support you. You have to know where you are on the food chain or the investors will pass you by. You have to be ready for hard work. You have to be ready to win.”

Essentially, that was the themed content of the evening’s discussion. These are commandments entrepreneurs have heard repeatedly. The value of hearing them from these experts was to hear the discourse, the exchange of ideas, and the empathy and support the three exude for the process of business building. It is always a motivational experience.

Panel member Richard (Dick) Dadamo is founder of RJD Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm that offers mentoring support to company presidents and owners of small companies that have sales under $20 million. As a serial angel investor, and an active member of the Tech Coast Angels, he has made a number of investments in start-ups. With more than thirty-five years of experience in the corporate world, he is well known as a mentor and friend. His advice is always practical and down-to-earth.

Dadamo strongly urges, “You have to realize that if you are an entrepreneur–––this is your life. You have to get to a point of due diligent, spending about 50-100 hours preparing your project for the investor. It’s all about discipline. If you don’t want to make money, we can’t make money. Plan the money. Review your story. Use common sense. Do all these things before you turn off the investor. They don’t care if you have the solution. They want to understand the need.”

Price talks about the emotional contact between the entrepreneur and the investor, citing one case in particular, “My job was to figure out how to get the angel in front of this technology in order for him to understand the concept. We used a trade show. He stood there and watched the look on people’s faces when we showed them what we did. He then stepped up to the plate. We used only our own money to develop the technology. We believed in what we were doing. If we didn’t find that next round of capital it was all for naught.”

Moderator Matt Ridenour agrees with the idea of emotional contact, “You can almost track the need for emotion contact versus the need for data content.” Ridenour has been a principal in more than 25 private market transactions with an aggregate value of more than $200 million. He has been active in private equity and venture capital initiatives, and as a successful CEO in early stage companies.

Christopher Romine, CEO S.two Corporation was the third panelist. His company is based in Northern Nevada, and manufactures portable and fixed-based digital recorders for field and studio production, and postproduction applications. Although in the early-stage of development, the Company currently serves markets worldwide through industry-leading distribution and customer support partners. At S.two Chris is leading a venture team of domain experts who are creating innovative solutions addressing digital film workflow problems.

As a manager and entrepreneur, Romine suggests that the relationship process is critical.

“With an initial investor the relationship is a process–––especially if he is lower down on the food chain. You have to develop of a relationship of trust. As we moved up the food chain in our business the relationship became much less important. So the history becomes more important. Relationships are important but you must not forget the credibility issues.”

In a discussion about business plans, Price, Dadamo and Ridenour each agree that you have to know what you’re doing. “The concept of creating a business plan forces you to know what you have to do first–––who are you going to call and why you need to have a specific understanding of what they are doing.” “Their first questions will be why should I not make this investment, especially if the management team is not in place.” “The investor will ask himself what are some of the deal killers on this proposition?” “Often early stage companies move too fast and we see them rewriting the business plan every several months. You must articulate what you fundamentally do in that plan in the presentation. What’s the right format? What is basically enough?” Adds Dadamo, “Make sure the first paragraph includes everything. Nobody wants 58 pages of financials. Tell them what is unique, where there is a need. You must convince the investors of this

“Trust and credibility equals comfort,” a tip offered by Dadamo. “If there’s more than one person involved in the project, you have a team. Team, team, team–––you get credibility from the team. You must also champion an investor who gives you credibility” Says Romine, “The team is the answer because we tend to get too narrowly focused. Tunnel vision is bad. Team has built-in critics. The chemistry builds on the temperament but the team is diverse enough to be critical and keep everyone on the path.”

“It’s an ongoing thing,” Adds Romine. “Once they give you the money, you don’t have to keep them in the loop, so if you do keep the relationship you maintain your credibility and they become part of what’s going on.” Price: “It takes passion–––sell, sell, sell, sell. If the entrepreneur doesn’t have passion, how are they going to go out and sell the product? The team has the passion. That’s the word I like best.”

Price says there is more to it than just the internal team. “You have to get the venture team involved. Ask yourself how to do this. Think of an external team. Think of people who would sit on an advisory board. This is not a director’s board. Attorneys, bankers, accountants, other professional guys–––you can knock around ideas together. They can be your test flight guys.”

Ridenour seconds this idea. “If you don’t have credibility be honest borrow some. The scariest thing you can do is to ask someone for money – so ask them for advice. Get some of their time and, if you have merit, they will get attached and want to get involved. They may even introduce you to the right people.”

Adds Dadamo, “Every business plan has an advisory board. Give them a certificate–––these white hairs and the no hairs. They know where the money is, the help is, and the people are. Don’t hesitate. I run into this problem all the time–––whether the guy really wants to be an entrepreneur. You have to be wiling to work for no pay. It all about commitment and passion. We all have to be on the same page. It’s sweat equity. If you’re getting into this just for the enjoyment, that may not be the place to go.” Price tells it straight, “You have to be an event banger. You have to ask for the money. What’s key is triangulation–––know someone who knows someone who know someone.”

The Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN) is dedicated to assisting, educating and connecting early stage growth companies with information and advisors for the purpose of raising money. TCVN has been directly or indirectly responsible for the establishment and growth of a significant number of new and early stage businesses. Through its major program, the Venture Forum, TCVN has had over 150 programs on topics to assist and educate entrepreneurs. More than 400 entrepreneurs, CEO's, investors and other presenters have shared their professional business knowledge and experiences.

(Compiled and written by Sara Pentz, www.sarapentz.com, January 31, 2006)

Search Engine Marketing White Paper - SEM Best Practices

Best Practices White Paper Summary

By Sara Pentz for Gerry Grant, CEO/Founder of Search-Optimization.com

ABSTRACT:
Search engine marketing (SEM) is the most effective form of marketing available today., The use of best practices consistently over an extended period of time will achieve maximum results. For companies to remain competitive, a properly built, professionally-optimized website is a must.

It is imperative that marketing executives insert Search Engine Marketing best practices into their marketing plans immediately or risk losing market share and brand equity. Effective optimization is an ongoing process—a corporate commitment, really—not just a one-time purchase. Because the stakes are high it is best to consider using an SEM service provider.

INTRODUCTION:
Best Practices refers to processes that have been developed by businesses to achieve maximum results with an efficient use of company resources. This White Paper is a st art at documenting the best practices for the Search Engine Optimization profession. We will attempt to educate decision makers in the corporate world about why SEM is critical to the success of the business and how to implement it into their marketing mix.

This Paper, Search Engine Marketing Best Practices, will evolve to include information from many sources. It will eventually incorporate web pages, blogs, forum postings and interactive content, allowing others to comment and contribute. The Paper will have lines of sight to additional content by using embedded links and will be available online as a living document. Visit www.search-optimization.com to register for additional installments of Search Engine Marketing Best Practices, or to contribute your thoughts or comments.

Many companies are so happy with their SEM results they do not implement a full search engine marketing campaign, leaving a lot of revenue unrealized. I recommend that in order to achieve SEM best practices, a company’s marketing team, in conjunction with a specialist in SEM, should map out the full extent of what can be accomplished using all SEM “components”—while maintaining a synergy with other marketing efforts.

The plan should include:

• Keyword market research and analysis.
• Strategic pay-per-click (PPC) program management and media buying. The right combination can reduce per-visitor costs by up to 40%.
• Website redesign and editorial search optimization--the two most powerful and effective methods of quickly increasing search engine visibility and achieving higher rankings.
• Analytics and ROI tracking to identify the most effective search engines, phrases, and keywords that allow you to track campaign activity and results in extraordinary detail.
• Powerful, interactive email campaigns capture your target visitors’ permission to send additional information.

As with traditional marketing, search engine marketing best practices begins with in- depth market research and benchmarking.

The biggest search engine marketing mistake is made right from the beginning—choosing the wrong target keywords or key phrases.

Keyword market research and analysis is the foundation of SEM best practices, including brainstorming keywords, phrases, and synonyms, assessing key-phrase popularity, and identifying related or industry-specific words. One must identify key-phrase popularity and related or industry-specific words—these will be the most popular, targeted, and convertible search terms.

Strategic Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program management and media buying provide an immediate method of delivering visitors to your site with placement and top rankings on Google, MSN, and Overture, plus a number of other high-quality, lower-cost PPC search engines. Writing targeted titles and descriptions for your keywords and key phrases, and developing targeted landing pages to give your site multiple points of entry will dramatically improve your PPC results. These landing pages also need to be optimized to attract natural traffic and increase your PPC results. To extend your budget even further, it is important to “blend and balance” placements on higher-priced PPC search engines with listings on less-expensive search-engine accounts. The right combination can reduce your per-visitor costs by up to 40% or more.

To maximize ranking, visibility, frequency, and reach, a specialist needs to address the following:

• Strategic Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program management and media buying.
• Conduct extensive keyword market research.
• Develop search-term-specific, keyword-rich landing pages.
• Select the most popular, targeted, and convertible search terms.
• Identify which keywords/keyword-specific phrases are most effective.
• Conduct continuous, industry-specific linguistic research.
• Coordinate all traditional marketing with SEM efforts.
• Use PPC strategic information in your SEO efforts.
• Set up web analytics including click fraud monitoring.
• Maintain a database of registered visitors and customers, allowing targeted communications and page delivery.
• Develop powerful email campaigns for bulk distribution or to a client base.

Website redesign and editorial search engine optimization are two of the most powerful and effective methods of quickly increasing search engine visibility and achieving higher rankings. Proper site design, page layout, and navigational setup will improve visitor satisfaction and increase revenues. When combined with today’s sophisticated analytics, you will even know what is working and what is not.

SEO Best Practices Research

• Determine how well search engines find and interpret the website’s content.
• Find out if you’re blocking the search engine spiders.
• Create a competitive website analysis to uncover details of your top ten competitors’ ranking strategies and the actions you can take to offset them and gain an advantage.
• Create a search visibility report that tracks a search-engine “spider’s” perspective of your site to reveal blocks, dead ends, and overall “spider” compatibility.
• Run a search saturation report to see how many page listings you have with the major search engines
• Create a keyword density analysis report that shows which web pages aretelling search engines by analyzing keyword frequency.
• Establish a keyword effectiveness indicator that reports the number of web pages competing for selected keywords on Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
• Record current sales volume.
• Create a current server log report to see how many unique visitors your site has.
• Run a keyword ranking report to reveal a website’s top 30 rankings, per keyword, across the major search engines.
• Use a link popularity report to identify those who are linking to the website in order to calculate how many major search-engine links currently point to it.
• Optimize all website images using keywords in names, links and other design techniques.
• Write or re-write copy to create “topical community” to make it “search-engine friendly.”
• Develop search-engine-specific, keyword-rich pages.
• Manually submit site information to major search engines. Seed listings with links from already listed pages and sites.
• Prepare the site for submission to top directory listings, including Yahoo and D MOZ.
• Develop customized thematic linking strategies and link-popularity programs.
• Implement an ongoing PR campaign using optimized press releases.
• Produce an ongoing business Blogs and Podcast projects.
• Submit articles and white papers to online sites and eZines.
• Correct all broken links and create a custom “page-not-found” document
• Create a Google site map and optimized site map
• Provide continuous, secure, uninterruptible, scalable web hosting.
• Install a search appliance on company server to improve on-site search results.

Note: The sales volume, server log report, search saturation report, keyword ranking report and the link popularity report are all excellent benchmarks to evaluate future success.

Best practices SEM requires a market researcher with knowledge in linguistics, a professional copy writer with a knowledge of SEM, including thematic linking and topical community, a graphic artist, a database manager, someone knowledgeable in creating dynamic websites, a PPC management expert, a web analytics expert, a linking strategy expert and a project manager, all with a knowledge of marketing.

Research indicates that it is better to retain the services of a full- service search engine marketing agency rather than attempt to implement SEM in-house. A recent survey conducted by Marketing Sherpa found that in- house SEM efforts produced an average increase of 38% after six months, a very respectable increase. This was compared to the results from outsourcing to an SEM service provider that achieved a more than 100% increase in visitors.

An Orange County Internet Marketing Company

Established in 1994, Search-Optimization.com is an Internet marketing firm dedicated to making clients’ websites work smarter. That translates into more qualified site visitors, enhanced profitability and maximum Return On Investment (ROI). Our clients are medium to large sized to multi–million dollar corporations, advertising agencies, PR firms and the clients they serve.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gerry Grant CEO/Founder Search-Optimization.com, an Orange County Internet Marketing Company, has been actively involved in search engine marketing since 1994.

Additional Resources available at www.search-optimization.com.

Reason, Individualism, Freedom Institute Announces

Capital Campaign of $4M Initiating the College of the United States

Using the Principles of the Montessori Method of Education I
ntegrated with Philosophy, as Applied to the Great Books Program

“The hallmark of a well-functioning mind is the ability to identify facts, analyze
ideas, integrate knowledge, and successfully translate principles into action.”
Marsha Familaro Enright, 2006

(Chicago, IL ––– January 2007) The power of philosophy, the Great Books (http://www.greatbooks.org/) and Maria Montessori’s (http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/montessori.html) theories of education, including study of Classical Liberalism http://www.mises.org/etexts/classical.asp), and Free Market Economics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economy),will constitute the foundation for the College of the United States (www.rifi.com)––a new venture in college education with admission plans set for September 2008. The purpose is to prepare young, bright students for a life of leadership; promoting reason, achievement and individual happiness.

Chicago, IL-based The Reason, Individualism and Freedom Institute, a Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Corporation, is the foundation led by College Founder/President Marsha Familaro Enright, (M.A. Psychology) (http://www.rifinst.org/content/view/26/30/)

which is developing this new higher education venture. It is her passion for learning that is responsible for this highly integrated program. Rarely do schools specifically train and nurture students in thinking skills per se. This is the goal of the College of the United States.

The College of the United States will strive to create global leaders of tomorrow capable of fulfilling the vision of the American Founding Fathers. The College will teach students how to become successful men and women of principle and action, effective in spreading the benefits of reason and individualism, and the bounty of liberty worldwide through their work and through their example

Initially, the College will offer a Baccalaureate Degree in Liberal Arts. The curriculum (http://www.rifinst.org/content/view/12/14/) will be unified, in-depth and extensive, addressing essential needs for training in thinking and practical skills, as well as a solid (http://www.rifinst.org/content/view/22/29/) foundation in reality-oriented philosophy applied to history, economics, literature, the arts, mathematics and science to help students effectively use their knowledge in life.

Enright has allied herself with intellectuals across the country to establish the College. Each one of these bright, inquisitive, accomplished advisors and team members brings an impressive set of disciplines, research and work expertise in every field imaginable to the founding and development of the College.

They have come together with the same philosophy about education––that young people are looking for alternatives to the current epistemological and ethical relativism; political and social collectivism and anti-capitalist, anti-business ideas that are prevalent in colleges and universities throughout the country.

About Marsha Familaro Enright, M.A. Psychology
Enright had a dream. In love with learning and concerned about education since childhood, she has spent the past 16 years as the CEO of Council Oak Montessori School, named one of the top 25 private elementary schools in Chicago, Illinois, by Chicago Magazine (http://www.chicagomag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=8642F5EFCEA14A939100AB7214F31861&nm=Archives&type=PubPagi&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle+Title&mid=61BFC65300D24DB58350C761094153A1&tier=4&id=5931EE1557024022AB24A313ED5B0484).

Eminently qualified as a educator, writer, psychological theorist and administrator, Enright is the force behind the College of the United States, an innovative and complete Liberal Arts/Sciences College, along with others who believe that a college of this kind will be a successful enterprise.

About the College of the United States
The Non-Profit Tax Exempt 501 (c)(3) Reason, Individualism, Freedom Institute is incorporated in Illinois for development work and as the financial aid arm of the College. Due to Illinois Board of Higher Education regulations, the College itself will be incorporated as a Non-Profit, with a For Profit arm, when sufficient capitalization has been obtained.

The College’s creators have invested more than $150,000 in cash and in-kind donations of time and research. This includes more than three full-time years researching the market, creating programs, and traveling the country marketing the concept.

Seed capital of $70,000 has been received and a major capital campaign seeking monies from sympathetic foundations and individuals has been launched. It is necessary to raise $1M to develop and vet the curriculum, create the organization, train faculty, recruit students, lease buildings and commence a full-blown marketing campaign.

Contact Information:
Marsha Familaro Enright, CEO/President
College of the United States
Reason, Individualism, Freedom Institute,
A Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Corporation
9400 South Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL. 60620
www.rifinst.org
info@rifinst.org
Fax: 773-779-1290
Phone: 773.677.6418

Media Contact:
Sara Pentz
sara@sarapentz.com
949.719.0902
Newport Beach, CA