The Big List of Local SEO’s (Hat tip to Mike Ramsey)

I recently met Mike Ramsey (Briefly) at the GetListed.org Local University (#LocalU) in New York City. I don’t know Mike and I would hesitate to even consider him a friend at this point. But I was thankful to make the connection and maybe we’ll connect in the future. His company Nifty Marketing is a great example of a firm to follow in the future.

I was fortunate to hear Mike speak on local SEO and specifically his tactics related to improving internet marketing agency processes. Mike took the time during a round table conversation to offer me some great advice on taking my business to the next level, and, although I already knew the things he recommended to be true, it was great to have another professional echo and support what I already knew. It all helps to light a fire under my ass and continue to do the things that I know are right — regardless if they’re painful or not.

Some of those things include:

Continue to focus. If you call yourself an “internet marketer” I think that’s a great start. I’ve always tried to separate myself from advertising agencies or companies that say they do SEO but also do print work, sell tradeshow displays, and mow your grass — whatever. You gotta start your focus somewhere. But you have to focus in further otherwise you’ll be lost in the crowd. You’ll be another generic, white bread marketing company. Continue to find your niche and become better and better until you consider yourself a master Jedi in what you do.

Over hire. Hire great talent before you actually need them.

Love your clients. If you feel like you’re on auto-pilot with a client, stop and reach out and touch them directly. Do this on a monthly basis. Pick up the damn phone and talk directly to the client.

Continually show value. You might be working your ass off every month, but if the client doesn’t know what they’re getting from their investment you’ll be the first on the chopping block when they’re looking at their marketing budget. Auto-billing their credit card is great until they see the charges and fire you.

Horde Cash. Cash is king baby. If you don’t have cash handy for an emergency or an important business investment you’ll be in trouble.

Innovate and grow. Continually get better at what you do on a daily basis. There’s always something more to learn. There’s always something more that you can be doing for your clients.

Anyway, there was a lot more. I just wanted an excuse to publicly thank Mike and the guys at LocalU for their help and expertise. Hopefully we’ll all connect again in the future.

Further, as you know, there is no better way to show love than to link to your friends directly. So without further ado I’m going to show Mike some love (and other prominent SEOs) and steal wholesale his “Big List of Local SEO’s”.

Connect with these people and learn, innovate and grow your knowledge of local search. It’s the best thing you can do for your own personal brand, your company and your local clients.

Mike Blumenthal – Professor Maps blogging all things local

David Mihm –President of Getlisted.org

Mary Bowling – Blogger and Local SEO whiz at Optimized!

Ed Reese – Local Analytics Ninja at Sixth Man Marketing

Will Scott – President of the Inc. 500 company Search Influence

Linda Buquet – Google Places Forum Top Contributor and Blogger

Don Campbell – Local Tools, Training, and Support at Expand2Web

Michael Borgelt – Local Search Consultant at 51 Blocks

Chris Silver Smith – Mapping Wizard and blogger at NodalBits

Greg Sterling – Covering local since local was at Screenwerk

Thomas Ballantyne – The Local Search Bug Killer at bulwarkpestcontrol.com

Cody Baird – Delivering local search results at Milkmen.com

Courtney Rogers – Product development at Trafixs.com

Aaron Weiche – VP at SpyderTrap.com

Adam Dorfman – Partner at SimPartners.com

Darren Shaw – Finding citations easier at Whitespark.ca

Matthew Hunt – “The” local expert at SmallBusinessOnlineCoach.com

Jackson Lo – Local SEO Blogger at JacksonLo.com

Adam Steele – Tactical Local Search Expert and Owner of Night Lite Media

Jim Rudnick – the true expert at Canuck SEO

Michael Mire – Local SEO and CEO of Getmelisted.net

Steve Hatcher – GEO Search Expert at GeoLocalSEO.com

Dev Basu – President of PoweredbySearch.com

Nyagoslav Zhekov – Google Places Forum Top Contributor at NGS Marketing

Yam Regev – Master of all things local at Compass Internet Solutions

Ash Nallawalla – Digital Strategy Consultant at Netmagellan

Martijn Beijk – Digital Analytix Consultant at comScore