I’ve been blogging since 2006. Since that time, marketing has changed — dramatically — and so has my business.

I want to make sure this blog is relevant, engaging and helpful to you. Help me help you by taking my blog survey. It will take just a couple of minutes. Your responses will remain anonymous — and at the end, you can see what everyone else had to say.

TAKE THE SURVEY!

I did a survey very similar to this one for my e-newsletter and was rather surprised at the responses. I’ve been sending out my newsletter on the first Friday of the month, for example. Survey respondents said, “We want it on Wednesdays!” All righty then!

Thanks in advance for your time.

Developed specifically for small and mid-sized business owners and marketers in the MA – NH Merrimack Valley!

If you’re a small or mid-sized business owner or marketer who is completely overwhelmed by the Web, Facebook, search engine optimization or anything else Web related, I’ve developed a new series of low-cost Web marketing seminars just for you.

In the first of six sessions, Jim Somers of Sonora DesignWorks (Newburyport, MA), will cover the top Web design and hosting mistakes he sees small and mid-sized companies making.

Jim will give tips on how to avoid expensive design mistakes as well as share his expertise on some of the “red flags” business owners and marketers should be aware of when choosing Web design and hosting companies.

You’ll learn how to use the Web to market and grow your business and will walk away with practical, hype-free information that you can put to use immediately.

Bring your lunch, something to take notes with, and business cards for networking.

For the full list of seminars and dates, visit my Web Marketing Seminars page.

SEMINAR DETAILS
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Atkinson Community Center
4 Main Street (Rte. 121)
Atkinson, NH

Cost: $35 per person payable in advance or at the door

RSVP
Dianna Huff
DH Communications, Inc.
603-382-8093
email: seminars@dhcommunications.com

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

I’m swamped and need help. I’m looking for someone who will help me on an ongoing basis with tasks associated with B2B (business-to-business) copywriting and marketing — everything from research and proofreading to editing / writing and social media.

Ideally, I want someone who will be my trusted assistant and who will free me up a bit to focus more on big picture ideas and strategy.

This is a “contract” or “freelance” position, meaning you won’t be an employee of DH Communications, Inc. The amount of work will fluctuate depending on my work flow. Should we work together, you’ll have to sign non-compete and non-disclosure agreements.

Your Qualifications:
– At least two years of B2B copywriting / marketing experience.
– Excellent proofreading and solid writing skills.
– Track record of meeting deadlines.
– Social media presence and understanding of how social media works.
– Great sense of humor; easy to work with.

If this sounds interesting to you, please do the following:

Send me a two-page PDF that includes:

• 100 word bio about yourself
• Your email and phone number
• Links to your Website / blog and social media profiles
• Your hourly rate
• Three client references
• Links to three B2B copywriting samples. In 50 words or less, describe each project and what you helped the client achieve.

Send the PDF to info@dhcommunications.com with “Copywriting Assistant” in the subject line by Friday, May 13, 2011, Noon.

I’m excited and pleased to announce my partnership with the Content Marketing Institute’s launch of its “strategy consulting practice dedicated to the emerging category of content marketing strategy and editorial services.”

I’ve been working with Joe Pulizzi and CMI since November, when I became the content strategist and content writer for CMI client MacroAir Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of HVLS ceiling fans.

Having CMI solidify this relationship and develop a consulting practice with other consultants, including Robert Rose, Ardath Albee, Mack Collier, Jason Falls, Jay Baer, and Lisa Petrilli, is thrilling and an honor, to say the least.

The new CMIC partnership will be offering clients the following three services:

Content Marketing Strategy — Assisting organizations to discover the power of their content and how it can help to achieve marketing goals.

Advisory Services — Designed for clients that want to engage CMIC consultants for very specific, short-term engagements across the spectrum of content marketing.

Editorial and Content Production services — For those clients that need to source editorial or writing services, CMI works with its sister company Junta42 to help source the best content marketing agencies for enterprise clients.

I’ll still be working as Dianna Huff, President of DH Communications, Inc., and helping my clients, such as Lanmark Controls, Ganeden Biotech, Cabot Corporation, and The Personal Brand Company, achieve results with their SEO, social media and B2B content marketing efforts.

Being a partner with CMI means I’m exposed to some of the best people and ideas in the business — which means we all benefit.

I have a new venture I’ve started, the Profitable Female Consultant. My mission is to help work-at-home moms and female consultants make more money. You can read all about why I started it at my other blog as well as view the site.

If you’re friends with WAHMs or female consultants, please forward the link to them. Thank you!

I write a lot of Web content for B2B companies. Manufacturing companies, software companies, service companies, chemical companies, widget companies — basically the small and mid-sized companies that make up the backbone of our economy.

This work, although incredibly important to the companies themselves, isn’t exactly sexy nor big budget.

So I was blown away when I opened my mail yesterday and learned that I had been awarded a Platinum MarCom Award for the Web content I wrote for the National Security Institute. You can read the case study if you want the full story. You can view other Platinum and Gold Award winners at the MarCom Awards site.

Winning the award got me to thinking about what’s involved with helping small and mid-sized B2Bs revamp their Websites.

Too often SMB Websites are “do-it-yourself” jobs. I’ve seen everything from sites managed by office admins using Microsoft FrontPage to sites that haven’t been updated since George W. Bush first became President.

The biggest problem I see, outside of poor design, is that companies don’t know how to communicate their message. The result is a poorly developed site that gives prospects few reasons to hang around the site looking for information. So they click right back out.

The first step in working with companies who want a Website overhaul isn’t so much “writing a few pages of copy” (which is what I usually get called in to do). It’s educating the client about Web marketing and then once we’re all on the same page, doing a complete message rebrand:

• Who are you?
• Why are you in business?
• Why do your customers do business with you?
• What makes you different?
• What’s your sales cycle?
• How do people find you?
• What’s changed for you in the last few years?

And most important, “What do you want your site to do for you?” Nine times out of ten people say, “Get us sales!” Ok! Now we’re talking!

The real problem is that people don’t see Websites as ASSETS. A building is an asset. Office furniture is an asset. A laptop computer is an asset.

A Website, however, is an EXPENSE. Because Websites grew out of traditional marcom — we migrated paper brochures and datasheets to the Web — they’re not seen as assets that deliver real value.

A bricks and mortar building delivers real value because it houses employees and the business of the company. It’s the same for a Website. Done right, a Website works for you 24 hours a day — generating leads, giving directions, answers questions, and promoting job openings, to name a few.

My job as a B2B marketing consultant / Web marketer is to help companies see the Website as an asset — and to develop messaging and content accordingly.

In addition to winning a Platinum award for the NSI site, I also won a Gold Award for overseeing the revamp of Dr. Helaine Smith’s site (WordPress design by Cre8d-Design) and an Honorable Mention for the e-book I wrote for her, “Dental Implants: Five Questions You Must Ask.”

Thanks again, Dave and Steve — you guys are great and I loved working with you. And thank you, too, Dr. Smith for your continued trust and business.

When I attended one of my first Search Engine Strategies meetings in Toronto a number of years ago, I remember Danny Sullivan (who now oversees Search Engine Land) standing up and saying something to the extent of, “Content will drive search in the future and you’ll have to know how to develop this content.”

I wanted to stand up in the crowded room, raise my hands in the air and do a booty dance right there. Woot!

You see, I’m a marketer who had to learn to think like an SEO — and now that content IS driving search, I feel like I’ve come home.

Because I know content inside and out, I am thrilled to be the featured speaker for SEMNE‘s (Search Engine Marketing New England) September meeting in the local Boston area.

The topic? Content Marketing for the SEO Professional.

I’m really excited about this session because I’m approaching it from a marketing versus SEO perspective. A few months ago Google’s Matt Cutts said (in either one of his talks or in one of his Google Buzz posts) that SEO professionals need to start thinking like marketers.

This means that in order to add significant value to client relationships, SEO professionals must now give recommendations for creating content that gets found in the search engines and passed around via social media.

Is this topic up my alley or what?

In my presentation, I’ll be covering:

* Answering site visitors’ unspoken questions through content

* Using Google Analytics, Alerts, and social media to develop content ideas

* Recommending the types of content that helps drive conversions

I’m really excited about this presentation and have already lined up all kinds of content examples for both B2B and B2C.

So please join me and lots of other SEO / search pros on Wednesday, September 15. I look forward to seeing you!

Meeting Details:
Location: Crown Plaza Hotel, Natick, MA
Date and time: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
6:30 – 7:30 Networking
7:30 – 9:00 Talk and questions

Visit SEMNE.org to register.

EDITED: September 17, 2010 — Presentation now available.

Due to numerous requests, I’ve uploaded my presentation, Content Marketing for SEO Professionals, to SlideShare.

I’ve spent the better part of the last two months doing a serious update to my Website. If you’re reading this post through a blog reader, click on through and take a peek.

Because traffic to my blog had outstripped traffic to my site, and because I was tired of maintaining two sites, I incorporated the blog into my site and moved the whole kit and kaboodle to WordPress.

Woot! This is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while now.

Working on a project of this nature is like redoing your bathroom. You take down the ugly wallpaper and realize you need to gut the entire bathroom.

I started moving content over and quickly realized my old copy did not describe what I now offer clients — my business having changed dramatically in the last two years.

As a result, I had an existential break-down trying to figure out what exactly I do for a living — and ended up calling Michele Linn, who graciously took over writing my Services pages and my “Why I’m Different” page. She also went through my entire site and made a bunch of recommendations — all of which I incorporated.

Michele, you are awesome! XOXOXOXOXOXOX

A huge thank you, too, to Stephen and Rachel at Cre8d Design who oversaw the move, redesigned the headers, and made sure everything works fine. If you need WordPress experts — call them. They’re the absolute best.

Take a look around and let me know what you think. And if you find any typos or broken links, let me know and I’ll send you a $5 Starbucks card.

Now I’m off to go have a cocktail (maybe two!).

Each year I “unplug” for 10 days. Basically this means I don’t use the computer — for anything. I’m always surprised by how difficult this is — and how the first two days are like going without caffeine.

Checking things like Twitter, LinkedIn, other blogs, this blog’s comments, email, etc. does give me a buzz. (I also realize how much time these things take, too.)

Suffice to say, I always come back refreshed and full of ideas, and that’s because I spend my time not thinking about much of anything, sleeping, and reading. It’s a wonderful 10 days.

And with that, Friday afternoon (today!) starts my annual unplugged vacation! Woo hoo!

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, although judging by my lack of blog posts, it appears that I might have.

My lack of posting is due to a number of factors: I went on vacation, I moved my office, and I’ve been working hard on getting my new site up and running: The Profitable Consultant.

I’m pretty excited about this site — which is geared toward consultants and freelancers in any industry who want to learn how to better market their businesses.

As I explain on the About Us page, I’ve worked with small to large B2B companies for years now, but have always had consultants and freelancers call me to ask for advice about how to start a business, how to optimize their sites, or how to better market themselves.

My mission has always been to help businesses achieve real results through marketing, so combining marketing, coaching, and my love for helping people made sense — hence, The Profitable Consultant.

Check it out and let me know what you think! I’m still fixing minor bugs, so if you find anything, give me a shout.

Also be sure to download my latest product: Goof-Proof Email: How to Avoid the Seven Most Common Email Pitfalls.

Photo credit goes to Carlton SooHoo, a *fabulous* photographer. Site design by Sonora DesignWorks in Amesbury, MA. (Thanks a bunch, Del!)