Schewanick Computer Services

As a writer with a background in public relations and marketing, I've always wanted to focus my energies on one particular client and make them a great success. In 2004 & 2005, I got my wish. Elaine VonCannon, a REMAX Capital REALTOR in Williamsburg, Virginia, had attempted to enter the real estate profession and thrive in a market where the 'old guard' has a stronghold. Sidhe Communications internet marketing tactics helped launch her career as a REALTOR. And her sales and marketing skills helped turned the leads Sidhe Communications generated into solid sales.
Internet Marketing: SEO the Seed of Growth
In 2003, I worked for a Public Relations firm, Wasabi Publicity, in Saluda, North Carolina. It was here that I first learned of an organic SEO method through a woman who calls herself the Publicity Hound. She said the best method of web site promotion was to write one article per month that educates readers on a product or service. The Publicity Hound also recommended a short list of article submission web sites where these articles could be posted. In January of 2003, I convinced Elaine VonCannon that I would help her write several articles and post them on sites across the internet. Elaine was in the first 6-8 months of working for REMAX Capital in Williamsburg, and was using traditional marketing methods (print media, brochures) to promote her services. We dropped several articles between January and March and then she decided to stop, because of budgeting concerns.
January 2004 – Niche Markets are Contacting Me Through my Site
Elaine phoned me at the beginning of January 2004 to let me know she was receiving leads from the articles we wrote and published in early 2003. In fact, her prospects mentioned the articles they had read. The articles we published in 2003 were directed towards real estate investors, who were interested in rehabbing and reselling property in the Williamsburg area. There were also a few articles that educated readers about real estate in general. Because she was receiving leads from the site, Elaine wanted to proceed and write some more articles, this time focusing her articles on retirement and relocation to the Williamsburg area. This was the lucrative audience she wanted to reach. I agreed readily. She asked my advice and I told her to take her money out of print media and to put it all into internet marketing. I promised her that this would pay off royally. She followed my recommendations, and began an aggressive publishing schedule of 3-4 internet marketing articles per month.
Keyword Writing for the Niche Markets
During our collaboration, the most important thing Elaine and I did was focus our story ideas on the niche markets she wanted to capture. Sidhe Communications team of keyword writers wrote articles geared towards the retirement audience, which touted Williamsburg as the retirement capital of the East. We researched golf courses and golf communities in the area, and began compiling informative articles about these subjects. Later we developed articles geared towards boaters, which listed marinas in the area and are designed to capture people interested in purchasing waterfront properties. All of these ideas worked. These articles actually brought the desired traffic to Elaine's web site and her telephone began ringing. Soon she was doing the sales she actually envisioned herself doing – the high end real estate sales all REALTORs dream about. I was pleased as punch.
Keyword Headliners for Niche Markets
I always joke with Elaine that she is the best headline writer. She would phone me up at all hours of the day and night with ideas for titles. Some of them were takeoffs on old 70s tunes or common clichés reworked. I always impressed upon her that titles needed to be 7 words or less and punchy, and she rose to the occasion. To this day, I feel the headlines on her articles are a large part of what helps them to be selected for digital publication across the internet. .
Internet Marketing on a Regular Basis
Elaine VonCannon is committed to web site promotion on a monthly basis. She actually averages three articles per month to promote her site www.voncannonrealestate.com. In January of 2004, her web statistics showed 5,000 people entering her site. At this posting in March 2006, she now averages over 200,000 per month to her site, with 8-10 telephone calls per week. The site is generating leads for her, and mostly in the relocation and retirement markets.
Any internet marketer poised for success must make a regular commitment to article writing and submission on a regular basis. Web site promotion must also include periodic digital press releases, and uploading new content to the site on a regular basis. Finally, complement this with some Pay Per Click Services, and the web site promotion strategies intrinsic to success are all in place.
Without a web site promotion plan in place any business can be assured of one thing: your competition will be doing it! And they will be gaining the leads you could generate to your site, not you. So if your company is caught between the 'promote the web site' or 'leave the web site alone for a while and see what happens' remember --- internet marketing works. Keyword writing combined with niche marketing is a strategy that gives your product or service the edge on the web.

About The Author

Elizabeth Kirwin has published work in national magazines and newspapers. She is co-owner of Sidhe Communications http://www.sidhecommunications.com in Asheville NC. She develops keyword rich copy for web sites. Her internet marketing plans have helped companies achieve high web site rankings and set up inbound links across the internet over the long term. For more information, e-mail ekirwin@bellsouth.net.
ekirwin@bellsouth.net