Session Overview: Are you looking to learn more about Twitter, Facebook, and other ways to market your company online?

Then join the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) for a Web marketing boot camp featuring Web Ad.vantage CEO, Hollis Thomases as a panel speaker.

Discover best practices from Baltimore’s top social media and Web marketing professionals from Web Advantage, Blue Sky Factory, MGH Word of Mouth Marketing and Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. Registration is $5 and includes light refreshments.

At a time when businesses were primarily focused on building Web sites and Google had not even launched yet, Thomases predicted the need for online marketing. Realizing that “if we build it, they will come” was not enough, Thomases recognized the secret to success was in generating qualified Web site traffic and converting those leads into sales. Thomases pioneered innovative programs that consistently enhanced her clients’ Web visibility, brand and bottom line, spearheading her agency’s impressive growth well after the Internet boom and subsequent bust. Thomases started her firm by hiring female professionals who temporarily or permanently left the workforce to have and/or raise children. She developed flexible, family-friendly policies and procedures for in-house employees and telecommuters, building her Maryland-based organization to a staff of 12 with $4 million in 2008 annual revenues.

About Hollis Thomases
Hollis Thomases, a graduate of Cornell University, is a well-known expert in the online marketing industry with more than 20 years of marketing experience. In 2008, Thomases was recognized by Enterprising Women magazine as an “Enterprising Woman of the Year;” in 2007, she was the US Small Business Administration “Small Business Person of the Year” for the state of Maryland and a finalist for the Athena Award for women’s leadership. Since 2005, Thomases has authored the “Planning the Buy” column for a top Internet resource, ClickZ.com. Thomases has appeared on television, in print and as a frequent speaker at national industry conferences and association events. Thomases is active in her community, volunteering on boards and participating in business groups. Thomases’s full bio may be found in the WebAdvantage.net Media Kit.

About WebAdvantage.net
WebAdvantage.net is a privately-held, woman-owned agency. Its core competencies include online media planning, buying and campaign management, search engine optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) paid search campaign management, social media consulting, and Internet strategy. The agency has grown key practices areas in hi-tech, health and wellness, working mothers, and aging Boomers. WebAdvantage.net’s collaborative, high-touch, results-centric approach to solutions has consistently garnered awards and loyal clients, including Nokia USA, Johns Hopkins University, Endo Pharmaceuticals, the Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association and Connections Academy. The Greater Baltimore Tech Council named WebAdvantage.net a “Small Giant with Mojo,” Smart Woman Magazine chose the company as a “Best Place for Business Women to Work.” More detail about WebAdvantage.net’s Internet marketing services is available online or call 410-942-0488.

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“We are very fortunate to be adding new clients at a time when so many other small businesses are suffering,” emphasizes WebAdvantage.net president, Hollis Thomases. “We believe our focus on verticals like health & wellness and technology have helped secure our position, but so has our focus on customer service and strategic problem-solving. Our philosophy allows us to think of result-oriented solutions for clients who might have less budget to work with than before.”

About WebAdvantage.net
Founded in 1998, WebAdvantage.net is an online marketing agency that provides strategic Internet marketing services including search engine optimization, PPC campaign management, online media planning, social media marketing, and Internet marketing consulting. WebAdvantage.net’s collaborative, high-touch, results-centric approach to solutions has consistently garnered awards and loyal clients, including Nokia USA, Johns Hopkins University, Endo Pharmaceuticals, the Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association, and Connections Academy. In 2008, agency President and founder Hollis Thomases was recognized as an “Enterprising Woman of the Year;” in 2007, she was the Maryland SBA “Small Business Person of the Year.” Thomases authors the “Planning the Buy” column for ClickZ.com. Learn more about WebAdvantage.net’s Internet marketing services online or call 410-942-0488.

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Please vote in our previous polls as well:

• If you use a URL-shortening service that offers tracking and reporting, how often do you review the data?

Session Overview: The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) and the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA) are joining forces to offer morning sessions that explore topics designed to help you manage your organization better in these difficult times.

Tom Rowe, webmaster for BACVA, brings together his merry band of experts to share their secrets or not so secret ways to conquer the most important outlet for marketing in our lifetime. Hollis Thomases, President & CEO of Web Advantage, is one of those experts!

 
Please vote in our previous poll as well:

• Are you more likely to follow someone on Twitter if they live or work in the same geographic vicinity as you?

Please vote in our previous poll as well:

• Do you get Twitter Guilt (Twuilt?) if you can’t tweet or read your friends’ tweets often enough because you’re too busy?

Hollis presented to local entrepreneurs and students at University of Baltimore’s Entrepreneurship Speaker Series in February 2009.

Session Overview: Web Ad.vantage President & CEO, Hollis Thomases will participate in a panel discussion on Social Media Marketing for Brand Building. She will address questions and discuss the important role Twitter can play in building a brand.

Additional Panelists Include:
Dave Evans, VP, Digital Voodoo
Harry J. Gold, CEO, Overdrive Interactive

Please vote in our previous poll as well:

• When re-tweeting (RT) posts from tweeps with lots of followers, what do you feel is the cut-off quantity of followers before RT’ing them becomes moot?