Check out the Meetup Listing and RSVP!

Date: March 5, 2013 Time: 5:30 pm Location: TheEasy @ TechStars, 511 Boren Ave N (Basement), Seattle, WA

It’s that time again, another Distilled Seattle Meetup. A few things are changing this time around. First, we are going to be having this meetup at the TechStars office, at The Easy downstairs (map here). We have recently moved offices (closer to main downtown Seattle) and The Easy is such a great place to have meetups.

The topic and speakers have changed as well (as per the usual). This time we will be embarking on the current hot topic Content Marketing. This will not be a how to session though. Our speakers will be telling it like it is, the Distilled way, and talking about what Content Marketing is and, more importantly, is not.

Kane Jamison, a long time friend and uber smart online marketer will be looking at how data should drive content on your site. Here is the description of his talk, from his own typing fingers:

Why Data Needs To Be The Foundation of Your Content Strategy With the continued adoption of content marketing as a strategy, many companies will soon find themselves in the middle of a content arms race. Kane will discuss how to use both internal and external data to differentiate and rise above everyday content, and move beyond the usual data-based tactics like infographics.

Adria Saracino, Distilled’s Outreach leader, is going to explore how content is something that can be utilized by all business types.

Making Cool Sh!t Isn’t Content Marketing Think content marketing is only for hip brands with a cool story to tell? Think again. Adria will reveal why and how all brands can adopt content marketing as a reliable strategy for improving their online business.

RSVP Now.

We’ll open the doors at 5:30, take some time to enjoy a few beers and chat, and then start the talks. There is free street parking available after 6pm and a number of paid lots. Hope to see you there!

Our next speaker video comes from the fabulous Mike King. Mike will be presenting at SearchLove Boston on November 5th and 6th. Are you signed up to see him?  

Mike is the Director of Inbound Marketing at iAquire. Mike’s session will take the form of a reputation management talk. A case study walking us through how to improve your reputation after being hit by a Google penalty update, and how to get back in to Google’s index.

Suffering from the same issues that iAquire experienced? Then this is the talk you need to see. Join Mike in Boston on November 5th and 6th, where there will be a whole host of other inspiring and educational presentations, brought to you by some of the smartest minds in the online industry. 

If you’re heading to SearchLove London the week before but want to see Mike’s session, then don’t worry the videos of all the sessions in each location will be available a few weeks after the conference, and you can currently buy them for £30/$50 when you register to attend! 

Don’t delay, register your place to spend two full days surrounded by hundreds of other internet marketers, today! 

Next in the line-up, we have Mark Johnstone who will be presenting at this year’s SearchLove London in just three weeks’ time.

Mark joined Distilled as an SEO consultant in July 2010 but his passion for all things creative shone through and in November 2011 he changed roles to take on the challenge of heading up the creative team. One of his first successes was the completion of this infographic which received over 6,000 tweets, 33,000 Facebook likes and over 300 linking root domains!

At this year’s SearchLove, Mark will be talking us through how to make the leap from one-off linkbait to a coherent content strategy…

If you’re keen to hear more from Mark, along with the rest of our awesome speakers, make sure to sign up for SearchLove London today.

Can’t join us in the UK? Don’t worry, we will be heading over the Atlantic to Boston the following week.

SearchLove Boston – Monday 5^th & Tuesday 6^th November at the Joseph B Martin Conference Center. Register to join us in Boston. 

We all know why YOU want to attend SearchLove:

• YOU get to catch up with industry friends you otherwise don’t get to see

• YOU learn the latest tips and tricks to put you one step ahead in your job

• YOU leave feeling inspired by the awesome speakers and even more keen to excel in your own field

• YOU attend fun networking parties where you get to meet other online marketing professionals and network with the speakers

• Plus, YOU get two days out of the office!

But it’s not YOU we need to convince, is it?

That’s why we’ve created these handy PDFs: London / Boston – so that we can take the hard work out of Convincing your Boss.

Simply download the PDF and place it on their desk or alternatively, send them this link

SearchLove London – Monday 29^th & Tuesday 30^th October 2012 – Convince your boss and register your place today!

SearchLove Boston – Monday 5^th & Tuesday 6^th November 2012 – Convince your boss and register your place today!

Thinking of attending SearchLove Boston this autumn? Perhaps Mike can help change your mind from ‘maybe’ to ‘definitely’….

Mike Pantoliano, one of our consultants in Seattle is going to be heading over to the East Coast this November to attend and present at the conference on 5^th and 6^th November. Mike will be showing you how to bring conversion rate optimization into the SEO’s day-to-day consciousness. Tips, case studies and takeaways will be provided to assist in-house and agency web marketers working on websites of any size.

Need more reasons to attend?

• This year we’ve introduced Social Seating – find a topic you’re interested in, choose who to sit next to and get social! You never know who you might meet. Sign up for a table now.
• The site clinics are back for 2012 – get one-on-one consulting time with our expert SEO consultants during your lunch break. Email events@distilled.net to register your place*
• The VIP dinner – we keep the numbers low to ensure an intimate environment where you are guaranteed some one-on-one time with the speakers. A great way to get to know them better and to pick their brains on the latest in search. (Plus the food is pretty amazing too!)
• The After-Party – the perfect opportunity to relax after the first day’s training, this is where you get to catch up with industry friends and make new ones!

SearchLove Boston – 5^th & 6^th November at the Joseph B Martin Conference Center. Don’t miss out on the most advanced, actionable SEO conference this Autumn – Register your place now.

Can’t make it to Boston, no worries! We’re hosting in London the week before:

SearchLove London – 29^th & 30^th October at the Congress Centre. Register your place now.

*Spaces are limited so contact us now to avoid being disappointed. 

The airline industry – namely KLM and Malaysia Airlines – recently introduced ‘social seating‘ to their flights; the idea being that you can pre-select who you would like to sit next to on your flight – be that someone with a similar interest, a potential business connection or someone who is attending the same event as you. 

Now, we’re not quite sold on the concept of doing this on flights just yet, but the idea of pre-selecting who to sit next to – effectively kick-starting your networking opportunities, has definitely got us intrigued. So, we decided to test it out at this year’s SearchLove conferences…

What are social tables?

Last year we introduced lunch time ‘Topic Tables’ whereby you choose to sit with one of our consultants and a group of peers during the lunch break and discuss an industry related topic. This year we have gone one better and not only will you be able to choose which consultant and which topic to discuss, you can also pre-select which of your peers you would like to sit next to! 

Why?

Perhaps you’ve been conversing with someone on Twitter but haven’t actually met in person? Or you fancy picking someone’s brains on their topic of expertise but don’t actually know them well enough to broach the subject off the cuff? Or you simply want to join in the conversation and get to know your peers better? Well then, this is the tool for you:

SearchLove London: select your social seat

SearchLove Boston: select your social seat

How do I get involved?

Check out the table plans (above), see who’s sitting where and then email events@distilled.net with your request to join them*.

Don’t worry if there isn’t anyone in particular that you want to sit with, you can still request a place at the topic tables – you never know, someone might be waiting for you to join!

*We will do our best to seat everyone in their preferred place but in some cases this may not always be possible, so please provide a second alternative.

SearchLove London – Monday 29^th & Tuesday 30^th October at the Congress Centre, London – Book your ticket and sign up for a social table now.  

SearchLove Boston – Monday 5^th & Tuesday 6^th November at the Joseph B Martin Conference Center, Boston – Book your ticket and sign up for a social table now.

Link Acquisition Unlike You Have Ever Seen – The Meetup

Calling all Seattle area search marketers. It’s that time again for another Distilled Meetup. (RSVP Here) This month we are proud and honored to have Ian Lurie from Portent Interactive speaking along with our very own Carson Ward. These two linking power houses are here to talk about really innovative ways to acquire links. 

Ian – Blow up the link building (kaboom)
Link building is an outcome, not a tactic. Ian will talk about using actual, real-life marketing tactics that lead to links as a natural outcome. No spam here! Penguins, Pandas and other animal metaphors not welcome.

Carson – Buying Links –  White-Hat Style
Buying links directly to improve organic rankings is risky and expensive. Paid search managers focus on higher-return commercial phrases to achieve an acceptable cost per conversion, leaving an untapped segment of low-cost informational searches. Paid informational searches presents an opportunity to buy awareness and build links at a cost and frequency that might surprise you. We’ll discuss spreading great content at shocking speed using channels your competitors are likely ignoring.

So Join Us! We will have drinks (wine, beer, water, and soda) and light snacks available. 

Date: September 26th, 2012
Time: 6:00pm
Location: National Building, 1008 Western Ave., Seattle, WA 98104 
We will be in the same place as last time. On the left side as you enter the building from Western Avenue.  

If anyone has any issues, give us a call at the office: (206) 965-9265.

Can’t wait to see you all there! Don’t forget to RSVP!

Ian Lurie of Portent Inc, has had a lot of experience over the years doing just this. He will be sharing his knowledge and showing you how to put it into practice at this year’s SearchLove Boston.

Whether you are agency-side or in-house, it’s likely you will have to make a pitch at some stage in your career. Ian is going to be delving through his experience of the pitching process to show you how to write clear, compelling proposals. Using a mixture of humor, data and description, he will show you how to deliver that winning pitch.

Interested in hearing more from Ian?

Then, join us on Monday 5^th & Tuesday 6^th November at the Joseph B Martin Conference Center, Boston. Check out the full schedule and book your early bird ticket now.*

Boston a little too far to travel? Fear not, we will be hosting in London one week earlier – Monday 29^th & Tuesday 30^th October at The Congress Centre. Check out the full schedule and book your early bird ticket now.

*The early bird rate will expire on Friday 31st August, so book now to avoid being disappointed. 

Over the next few weeks we will be revealing in more detail what you can expect from this year’s SearchLove sessions. 

First up, we have Heather Healy from Stickyeyes. We’ve all heard the endless speculation as to whether social signals actually play a part in the search rankings. Well at this year’s SearchLove London, Heather will be putting a stop to the speculation as she delves into data sets from competitive sectors to demonstrate where social signals matter and where they don’t!

Want to hear what Heather has to say about social?

Join us on Monday 29^th & Tuesday 30^th at the Congress Centre, London. See the full London schedule here and buy your early bird ticket now.

Keep your eye on the events blog as next we will be hearing from Ian Lurie from Portent, who will be speaking at SearchLove Boston on Monday 5^th & Tuesday 6^th November.

Can’t wait for the video? Check out the full Boston schedule here and book your early bird ticket now. 

The SearchLove VIP dinner could be just what you’re looking for…

I received an email yesterday about the VIP dinners which has prompted me to write this post.

“I’m curious as to what the VIP dinner entails, so would you mind giving me a brief outline…”

When you attend a SearchLove conference, you have the opportunity to ‘upgrade’ your ticket to include attendance at the VIP dinner. Spaces are limited – there are around 20 places available at each dinner – as we like to ensure that they remain intimate and offer each attendee real value.

The ratio of speaker to attendee is roughly 50/50 and so there will be plenty of opportunities throughout the evening to spend some one-on-one time with the speakers.  

London – This year’s London VIP dinner will take place at The BlueBird in Chelsea, a local neighbourhood restaurant on a grand scale, serving modern European cuisine.  We have exclusive hire of one of the private dining rooms – which includes its own private bar – to make the night all the more exclusive.

Boston – This year’s Boston VIP dinner will take place at Smith & Wollensky’s, Boston – Back Bay. Located in a historic stone and brick ‘castle’, this venue is truly unique. We have hired out the Eagle Room exclusively for the evening.

Both evenings will begin with welcome drinks at around 7pm.  After the welcome drinks, we will invite everyone to be seated in a private dining room where you will be served a delicious three course dinner.

We typically arrange the table plan so that every attendee is seated either next to or facing a speaker so that you will have plenty of opportunity throughout the evening to chat to them about anything you wish – be that the latest ‘hot-topic’ in search, or your favourite sport! 

We also give each dinner attendee the chance to pose a question to a speaker of their choice, which will be read out at the dinner and answered by the speaker in question.

Don’t just take our word for it though – see what the attendees have to say for themselves:

“The VIP dinners are more than just a chance to have a great conversation about the marketing world and specific tactics. At every dinner I’ve been to, it’s been a chance to walk away with new friends & colleagues I feel comfortable both helping out when they need it and asking for help when I do. That’s a rare and awesome opportunity given the speaker set” Rand Fishkin, SEOMoz

Don’t miss out – book your VIP dinner ticket today:

London – SearchLove London ticket (£549+VAT Moz pro Early Bird rate / £649+VAT Standard Early Bird rate) + VIP dinner ticket £159+VAT

Boston – SearchLove Boston ticket ($799 Moz pro Early Bird ticket rate / $949 Standard Early Bird rate) + SearchLove dinner ticket $255

Alternatively, if you have already bought your SearchLove ticket and want to add on a dinner ticket, email events@distilled.net. 

Remember, early bird rates will be ending soon, so get your ticket now to avoid disappointment!