Monday, August 27, 2007

Apogee Search In WSJ

I get a big kick out of seeing good things happen to good people. Today when I opened up the Wall Street Journal I saw a picture on page B4 of my good friend, Bill Leake. Bill is the CEO of Apogee Search, an Austin based on-line marketing company that specializes in helping companies maximize the search engine optimization. How cool it is to see your friend and his company in a story in the Journal!!!

Bill is a serial entrepreneur whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for about six years. His company is the real deal, and is consistently growing and discovering new ways to serve their clients ever changing needs in the complex on-line world. He cares deeply about the SEO business, and strives to be certain that Apogee is providing tangible results for those they serve.

The article, written by Simona Covel, focused on the practice of companies are paying bloggers to review their products. This is controversial as many question the integrity of posts for cash, but the folks at Apogee have seen the results. My opinion is that as long as a blogger reveals that he is being paid, then there is no controversy at all...the reader knows the facts and can make their own judgements. Leake and his team prefer that bloggers are transparent about being paid, and utilize PayPerPost, Inc as the conduit to finding and paying the bloggers.

The cost of this practice is a fraction of what companies now pay for Google Adwords, which has become a very expensive option for the small company who wants to have search visibility. I know, because my own efforts in experimenting with Google Adwords to promote my book and professional keynote speaking found more cost for clicks than results!

If you still have the August 27, 2007 Wall Street Journal on hand, flip through the MarketPlace section and read about my friend Bill.

Have A Great Day

thom

PS - I was NOT PAID for this post! However, if Bill's crackerjack SEO team discovers this blog post, I will happily allow him to pay for my lunch in the near future! Otherwise I wont even tell him I wrote this. My guess is that Apogee Search has the corporate and the CEO's name set up for a Google Alert, so I should be hearing from Mr. Bill Leake within the next few hours to set up that lunch (you know, the one he can pay for!!!).

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