The sun has barely risen over downtown Seattle and, uncharacteristically, there’s not a single cloud in the 5:30 AM sky. Elliott Bay and Mount Rainer are just visible, peeking between architecturally diverse city buildings, highlighted in contrast by Northwest Pacific morning sun.
The view from my 31st floor downtown Westin hotel room is nothing short of stunning. Good morning, Seattle. It’s great to be back for SMX Advanced 2010. In a few short hours I’ll have the pleasure of speaking here for the third year in row and then again tomorrow. Man I love my job!
‘Advanced Seattle is truly one of my favorite search marketing conferences of the year. Brainchild of Danny Sullivan, Chris Sherman and the whole Third Door Media crew, this annual conclave of thought leaders is special, steeped in deep information and fantastic perspective for these rapidly changing times.
Industry insiders will easily recognize notable thought-leaders including Duane Forrester, Matt Cutts, Janet Driscoll Miller, Rand Fishkin, Sasi Parthasarathy, Matt Van Wagner, Benny Blum, Craig Danuloff, Todd Friesen, Chris Silver Smith, Greg Sterling, Christine Churchill, Gordon Hotchkiss, Chris Winfield, Vanessa Fox, Debra Mastaler, Richard Zwicky and literally dozens others. Â Really folks, this conference is like kid-in-a-candy-shop sort of stuff, a one-stop-shop for catching up on what’s current and coming.
Served up on four tracks over the course of two (long and) stimulating days, SMX Advanced takes place right on the scenic Seattle waterfront at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. Today’s agenda is structured on SEO & Social, Paid Search, Business Issues & Sponsored Tracks.
The first session I’ll speak on at 9 AM this morning is aptly titled Opening The Contracts Kimono: Translating Your Pricing Model To Legal Agreement Moderated by Chris Elwell, President, Third Door Media, the program will also feature my friends Will Scott, President, Search Influence and Lisa Williams, President, MEDIA forte marketing. Adam Audette, President, AudetteMedia, Inc will be the Q&A moderator.
Conversations about online marketing “pricing models” are usually a bunch of  theoretical banter. Putting deals together based on the realities of our industry requires building contracts, which can be a challange and expensive to perfect. Agencies and solo practitionares are highly protective of their contracts, priceless written instruments that embody actual execution of business models. Well… that ends this morning.
When I pitched this session to SMX, it was my intent to organize a session to cut through mystical veil of how these contracts are built. Attendees will be provided with print-outs of contract clause examples for their own use as applicable. IMHO, this information is incredibly valuable for fledgling or even upstart online marketing agencies. (The lawyers made me say that the materials are in no way are intended to constitute legal advice, only reference materials regarding how other firms have accomplished various business model objectives.) Tomorrow I’ll speak again regarding Facebook SEO, a session our AIMCLEAR team in Duluth has been researching for some time.
Good morning, Seattle! It’s a pleasure to walk your streets and ride the ferries again. Thanks for the this amazing sunlit day and for the beautiful harbor air. SMX Advanced is one of my annual favorites, a nice addition to this year’s London, Sydney, Portland, ‘Vegas, San Francisco and New York conference appearances. I hope to see you in our session later this morning.
