A couple of weeks ago I challenged the team here at Amplify Interactive to increase their blogging frequency, up the quality of their posts, and to hone their blog post marketing skills. So I gave them a contest. The contest is to write a post in one of our major search engine marketing categories (SEO, PPC, Social Media and Analytics). The author of the blog post with the most unique page views will win a free 2-night trip to Seattle! (for SMX Advanced – related post: SMX Advanced 2009 Highlights).

Winning a trip to an industry conference may not sound like a great prize – but SMX Advanced is a pretty great time AND the Search Commander will be there. Maybe he’ll even ride the train with us again.

Help out your favorite Amplify Interactive blogger by helping them get their posts seen. Link to them, Retweet them, submit to Sphinn, etc.  Any blog post from the beginning of the year is eligible. The contest will end on May 30th. I’ll let you know who won!

I provided a guest post NWSEM’s blog where I talk about how we use the concept of building authority to shape how we work on clients & campaigns. The article highlights how this approach applies to the interplay between SEO, PPC & Social Media and features some interesting stats.

Attain SEM Success Through Authority

“The driving principles of SEO have always been content & authority (in the form of links). Since Google came around – this principle has never changed even as the tactics have. As the search results page has gotten more competitive, and social media has started shedding light on a brand’s strengths and flaws – it has become more important and difficult to cut through the noise and capture attention. Improving the perception of your brand as an authority can help you do this.”

Read the rest of the article on the NWSEM Blog

Ben & Spencer pose with their MAX Award

Amplify Interactive was awarded the “best single medium advertising campaign” at the 2010 AMA MAX Awards. Amplify Interactive’s work on a campaign for our client SawStop was recognized as the best among 8 entries in the category from other Portland area agencies & companies including a campaign from our office-mates Grady Britton as well as our partner eROI, and Intel (with whom we tied for 1st place) among others.

Great job on the AWARD WINNING work guys!

Links to related info:

• Press Release: Amplify Interactive wins a 2010 AMA MAX Award
• Our entry/case study: PPC Campaign Domination – Launching SawStop’s New Professional Cabinet Saw with PPC Advertising
• AMA MAX Awards
• Pictures from the 2010 AMA MAX Awards Ceremony
• Our series of posts on how to  “PPC Campaign Domination“

We’re always looking for clients who want to do award winning campaigns. Follow the link to find out more about our PPC Management Services.

The folks over at tmmpdx.com were kind enough to interview me about SearchFest 2010. Hope we see you there!

TMMPDX.COM’s SearchFest Preview: Q&A with Ben Lloyd, SEMpdx President

SEMpdx President, Ben Lloyd, took some time out for a Q&A with TMMPDX to talk about SearchFest and give us a preview of the upcoming conference happening March 9, 1010 at the Governer Hotel

I’m speaking at the PSU Digital Marketing Breakfast at PSU on Tuesday February 16 2010 .

From the PSU site:

“This breakfast is part of a quarterly discussion of digital marketing with industry professionals, moderated this time by the Portland search engine marketing association, SEMpdx.”

Our panel should be really great. There’s several folks from the SEMpdx board speaking about Universal Search (see my earlier post “SEO Tips for Universal Search“) + we’ll have analytics expert Aaron Gray on hand. We’ll each be presenting a few key points and then taking Q&A.

The session is totally free. Just register. Here’s a link for more information on the PSU Digital Marketing Breakfast at PSU. Hope to see you there!