
There are probably too many local conferences. I know, I’m charged with planning some of them — and speaking at many of them. The content is typically similar, the speakers and issues are often very similar.
While it’s great for industry education and networking on the one hand, there’s also what I’d call “local conference fatigue.” However, given the built-in need to address many of the “bread and butter” local issues in programming LSA|15 (April 20 – 22, in LA), my challenge was how to inject interesting new angles and content into the show.
We’re doing that in a variety of ways, which I won’t fully explain now. However, among them, we’re hosting a stand-alone small business event before the start main LSA conference.
We in the “local search industry” speak at length about SMBs, often without speaking directly to them. So, together with GoDaddy, Yelp, Yahoo, Google, Closely, Square and Pinterest, we’re going to bring 200+ SMBs into a room and engage them directly around both basic and difficult digital marketing questions.
A range of experts is going to offer conceptual and tactical advice. But we’ll also hear from business owners about their needs, desires and pain points. It will be a very interactive day.
Beyond the companies above, we’ve got a few slots for other exhibitors and a limited number of spots for “industry” attendees, who want to interact directly with small business owners.
We believe it will be a compelling event and an unusual opportunity for people in the industry. Below is the preliminary agenda, which is being slightly revised. Let me know if you’ve got any feedback or suggestions:
| 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Registration |
| 9:30 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. | Welcome and Overview |
| 9:40 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. | We Feel Your Pain LSA will present survey data on challenges of being a small business in a noisy and confusing digital marketplace. |
| 9:50 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Mistakes Were Made Panelists will discuss the most common digital marketing mistakes they see and how to avoid them. |
| 10:15 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. | Elements of a successful digital strategy How to think about and prioritize various digital media and marketing channels. |
| 10:40 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. | Morning Coffee Break |
| 11:05 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. | Morning Breakout Sessions
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| 11:50 a.m. – 1:20 p.m. | Lunch and Networking Birds of a feather + expo hall |
| 1:20 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. | Business Owner Panel A panel of local business owners discusses digital marketing strategies and lessons learned. |
| 1:50 p.m. – 2:05 p.m. | Capturing the New Multi-screen Customer Data presentation with practical takeaways. |
| 2:05 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. | Afternoon Breakout Sessions
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| 2:50 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Afternoon Coffee Break |
| 3:15 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. | What’s Working How to measure digital success, determine ROI and figure out whether you’re getting your money’s worth. |
| 3:40 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | DIY vs. Do-It-for-Me Which forms of digital marketing can you do yourself and when should you hire someone else? |
| 4:00 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. | Wrap Up and Giveaway Drawing |



While the non-profit Better Business Bureau (

I’m very pleased with the group of speakers that have come together for the SMX West 





