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    1. Strategy

    We listen to you and learn your business in order to plan a tailored campaign.

    2. Design

    Our designers collaborate intensely with our user experience and conversion optimization teams.

    3. Technology

    Large-scale development initiatives including integrated shopping carts or 3rd party solutions with our custom programming.

    4. Marketing

    Coalition deploys some of the most innovative & successful marketing strategies online.

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    Building Business

    Swim Spot
    • 3.9 times as many total visitors
    • 15.8 times as many visitors from Google
    • 3.1 times higher conversion rate

    Bottom Line:

    • 11 times as many transactions
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    & Marketing

    • Web Design
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Google Adwords
    • Email Marketing
    • Conversion Optimization
    • Programming
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    Custom Design & Programming

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    Certified Google Adwords Partner

    Coalition Technologies is a Certified Google Adwords Partner.


    Learn more about how our Google Adwords specialists can help you build your Adwords campaigns and landing pages in the best way for your bottom line.

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Archive for the ‘Business Management’ Category

Los Angeles Programmer Wanted


Coalition Technologies is growing! We’ve recently added two new web developers to our team and are having another programmer (our 3rd) starting on Monday. But we still need more help! Interested candidates read on!

You will be responsible for applying your PHP, Javascript & MySQL skills to numerous task as they relate to startups and growing their businesses online!
You will be responsible for numerous tasks as they relate to Website Design and Development,
Including:
• MySQL Database Development
• PHP development
• Javascript & JQuery coding
• More. . .
Do you want to fast-track your development skills professionally?
Do you value being trained to be your best in business?
Do you want to be rewarded for your successes with advancement within the company, pay increases, and bonuses?
Do you embrace challenges and enjoy growing beyond your comfort zone?

Finally, have you just been looking for the right opportunity that would fill all of the above?
• Compensation $26 / hour (Review 120 Days with modest increases)
• Business casual work environment and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Opportunity to model a successful business entrepreneur who teach business owners how to successfully market and grow their business both on and offline!

Requirements

The successful candidate will have:
• Experience required: PHP, Javascript, MySQL, CSS and table-less HTML
• Experience in command line scripting for servers
• Own their own laptop
• Cell Phone
• Car
• Excellent oral phone, and written communication skills
• Self-starter, high motivation, innovative to achieve goals
• Able to handle objective criticism and willing to learn and grow
• Able to work in high energy environment
• Willing to learn stuff off the clock!
• Live close to Venice Beach. (30-40 Minute commute max.)
(Be willing and excited about the internet and future trends, meaning go home and learn stuff we tell you too!)
Fun, Positive & Energetic Environment. You need to be willing to work, grow, communicate effectively, and roll up your sleeves for awesome opportunity.

If you are just seeking a paycheck or not looking to move into a full time position, please save us both time and do not apply.

Please include resume, (In-Word Format) cover letter, and easy to reach phone number such as your cell! Please note if you do not include any of these you will not be considered! Also only interview if you have references that will check out as we will call them before hiring!

Ideal candidates will live near the Westside or Close to Venice Beach.
* Also incredible environment to learn what it takes to be successful in business from people that teaches business owners on the subject!
* Interview Process:
We are looking for somebody to start immediately! You must have references that will check out.

The Bank of Facebook, that will never be


Emergent by Design recently did a post on the future of Facebook Credits, and how they are an emerging ‘currency’ or how they might emerge as a currency. (Thanks Aaron Wall for the tweet to bring it to your followers attention).

I do believe that there is a certain truth in the ability of major web marketplace players to establish themselves as an alternative to many things we otherwise rely on physical presence for. We can avoid shopping, driving, talking, reading a book, going to a library, a concert, and more, all because of the amazing power and breadth of options available online today. One quick search in Google or Bing (and Yahoo, Bing’s fat cousin), and we can find almost any piece of information or resource that we are looking for today.

However, I think the analysis offered of the future of Facebook in the Emergent by Design blog post was rather simplified and far too easily greased the wheels of advance for Facebook. I know that there is a book in the works, so no doubt this was an attempt to drum up interest and start a conversation. (Which is working, based on this post alone).

Currency in its earliest forms had to have value, and really didn’t need backing by any major states. Gold coins, jewelry, and trade goods all had intrinsic values associated with them, nearly universally across the globe and in almost every cultural history. If Rome was overthrown, the spices, the gold, the jewelry, the weaponry and armor, the livestock, and the land all still held value. In this simplistic view of currency, perhaps Facebook itself does have value as a currency. It is a good, (information and communication), that is easily exchanged and would hold value regardless of nation, region, or government form. The only reason that Facebook, or Google for that matter, hold any value is in their ability to operate as a provider of goods or services.

Image of World Currency

Notice that Facebook Credit isn't one?


The prime reason that Facebook and Google especially will never offer a meaningful alternative to currency is that they inherently have no way of securing or backing their funds. Google’s beating in China by the government is a perfect example of how easily their ‘value’ can be upended. If Google had offered its own currency, Google +1Creds (since Facebook has Credits, Google would poorly copy), it would be senseless for 90% of the world’s population to invest or exchange their dollars/yen/yuan/pounds for. If that particular government, limits access or participation in Google or Facebook, then that investment suddenly becomes worthless, and the means for withdrawal become nearly impossible. In democratic ‘developed countries’, we might argue that the government would never be ballsy enough to limit or restrict internet connectivity. But they already have, and with the latest US Congress, they seem even more interested in doing so.

As long as their are physical controls on how people can access the internet, established and overseen by the governments of the world, there will never be a currency based on the full faith and backing of Facebook or Google. Will their be Credits or +1 Creds, that are backed by a real currency, that is backed by a real government? Absolutely. Will they grow in popularity and use? Absolutely. Will any strong, central government, like those of developed economies like Japan, the US, the UK, China, and the EU (if the tourism industry countries don’t bankrupt it first), allow those online currencies to supersede their own? Absolutely not. Through taxes, regulations, and other restrictions, your world wide web will be very carefully controlled and guided, regardless of how democratic your country.

No Useless Employees! A mantra for a modern SEM and Web Design Firm.


Our motto is officially ‘So Search Me’. Its official because I posted it here, in this official looking blog on our official looking company website.

But it might as well be, ‘No Useless Employees’. I am pretty sure that secretly Joel, our guru/genius/founder (or GGF for short), mutters this under his breath when he’s alone contemplating the future of our Los Angeles company and where we focus our growth.

SEO company founder Joel strolls in the clouds.

He actually does go for a walk in the clouds in his suit every morning.

Why does the ‘no useless employees’ have such a significant impact for our clients? Their are two major reasons why it benefits web design customers, SEO clients, reputation management customers, and search marketing clients.

First and foremost- No useless employees, really means no wasted expenditure. Everything about Coalition is aimed at keeping our business (and expenses) streamlined. Our offices are tailored for our company sizes and we usually do our client meetings over coffee or lunch, and sometimes dinner. We don’t need massive conference rooms, or an expensive downtown office space. It makes sense for us to be just off the beaten path but still close enough to Los Angeles and other suburbs to be available quickly for clients and potential clients. It carries over into the employees because we don’t have receptionists, accountants, legal teams, human resource partners, or an extensive middle management. Everybody has a specific job to do and everyone contributes to each client. Our SEO and PPC techs help support web design efforts, and the web design team does a fantastic job supporting them in return with clean coding, modern site architecture, and improved usability. Since the office is a shared open space, communication and brain storming happen efficiently and without memos, email chains, or fax. If Hiren, our lead designer has a question, he spins his chair around and chats with David our senior SEO tech, and then can input that advice right into the custom ecommerce site that he is building. The same thing happens in reverse, when Joel is consulting a high profile client for reputation management and needs to know how long it would take to produce twelve mini sites to support those efforts. Hiren can walk through the scope of work, the client’s requirements, and produce accurate hours in a moment. Joel spins back around to his workspace and the client has their answer.

Secondly, the no wasted employees mantra creates more talented individuals. We’ve had plenty of experiences with different ‘competitors’ who specialize in either web design or in search engine optimization in LA, but don’t offer skilled advice or support in other very relevant areas. A competing web design firm may do a great job coding an ecommerce site. But their designer was focused on code and visuals. He doesn’t have the understanding of SEO or of buyer usability that helps conversion rates and search rankings in Google, Bing, and Yahoo. At Coalition, the exact opposite is true. I’m a consultant, whose main job is to help assist businesses analyze their needs in a website or a marketing effort and guide them towards the ‘light’ at the end of the tunnel (and it isn’t Joel’s radiant smile). But, Joel hired me on the condition that I also know HTML/ CSS/ PHP/ Javascript/ LAMP stack/ MYSQL/ SEO/ PPC/ Social Media, and more! And he wants me to learn a number of programming languages! Hiren, our web designer, is one of the most creative web developers I’ve encountered. He’s quick, artistic, and produces super clean, extremely reliable coding. Joel hired him because he’s a great asset to our web design firm as a designer, but he’s also training Hiren on the search engine optimization, social media, and the marketing elements.

This is just to name a few examples. Even our company mascot, Frida, has to be able to fetch the morning paper and send and retrieve faxes.

In the end, Coalition Technologies is one of the top rated web design and LA SEO firms because we provide exceptional values. Are we more expensive then the website templaters, and the Indian sweat shops? Absolutely. But our design and development work isn’t even on the same level! Literally, no comparison in aesthetics, functionality, and security. Are we less expensive then the major US base firms? Heck yes. But our product would still outperform theirs in nine out of ten performance tests.

Contact us if you, as a business owner or executive, can appreciate our streamlined model. We’re not wasting your money, by wasting ours. We’re close to Santa Monica, in Venice, California.

Epic Fail- Borders’ bitterness


Hilarious image I was pointed to this morning, thanks to a Borders store in Chicago, which is closing. Since its an outdated and overblown business model. It goes to show that it is better to be effectively leveraging the web, rather then getting beat by it.

Borders Epic Fail picture

The fact that a giant company can’t figure out how to move itself online effectively, just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Why? It means that LA web design firms that offer effective online business consulting strategies still are very much in need.

Borders should’ve called Coalition Technologies. Amazon might’ve been the one sending their customers over for a potty break.

Reputation Management- Big, Small, and In Between


Perhaps one of the most important, and most secretive areas of Los Angeles SEO work is reputation management. Why is it so secretive? Most clients, either individuals or corporations want non-disclosure agreements in place before proceeding with the work.

For those of you who don’t know, reputation management is exactly what it sounds like. Managing reputations. Why would anyone bother with reputation management? For most professionals and companies it is far too easy for one bad story to get publicity and the rest of their positive stories to get no attention. Sometimes those bad stories, comments, or reviews are complete falsehoods, sometimes they are partially true but heavily skewed, or sometimes they’re entirely true. In the end it doesn’t matter. Reputation management is our LA web design firm’s efforts to promote positive material and content in search results, in customer review sites like Yelp, and around the web.

We have experience working with clients of all sizes. On the big end, we have handled reputation management for some of the world’s largest companies, and for their CEOs. Why would a CEO want a reputation management firm? Its a simple answer- lies, half truths, and negative news articles can directly impact the value of their company and the strength of their position with stakeholders, board members, and clients. Having a SEO company like ours who is able to ensure that the top search results are populated with positive or neutral content can help to avoid negative publicity and its ramifications. Coalition has experienced working directly with companies, with their CEOs and executives, with politicians and political campaigns, and with public relations firms, legal representatives like attorneys or lawyers. Because a poor reputation online can have a major impact on your ability to carry out your job responsibilities or can impact your ability to generate business, spending a few thousand a month for high level reputation management can be very profitable. When someone searches for your company or you, you don’t have to worry that an embarrassing mistake, or a scathing comment is the first thing people see. High level corporate reputation management is a must, if you are considering new product launches, new campaign initiatives, hiring new executives, selling a company or a share of a company, or running for office.

On the mid level, Coalition is able to perform all of its normal activities as a company handling search engine optimization aimed at promoting sales and lead generation, while also focusing efforts on decreasing search ranking for negative reviews in Yelp, Citysearch, or others. For businesses where client referrals and experience statements are everything, having a balanced SEO promotion and reputation management is imperative. As the old saying goes, it only takes on bad apple to ruin the whole bunch, and the sad truth is that even if you have one hundred positive reviews, one negative review can spoil your chance at generating leads. The nice thing with these efforts is that they are proactive- you’re building sales or revenue, and still are protecting your company name. Also occurring at this level, we do work for law firms whose clients are not getting a fair shake in the media. With more and more judges tightening down on venue changes for fair trials, it is important to have some influence on the content and information that is being publicized about your client as they prepare to face charges. The legal system is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but the court of public opinion is almost always guilty even if proven innocent these days.

Our starting level reputation management focuses on actual client reviews and management of smaller publicity items. We traditionally incorporate or build these into our SEO campaigns so that you see the positive increase and the negative decrease. Competition levels for keyword terms are a huge factor in determining price, so bear that in mind if you are considering a reputation management firm. If you are a high profile celebrity or CEO, and the New York Times just ran a scathing article on you, changing ranking will cost more, since Google skews search results towards high profile news sites like the NYT. If you contact us early enough, or if you have us securing these top level search rankings before the stories break, then we can significantly minimize their impact.

Call us today if you’re in the midst of a PR crisis, or know that there is the risk for one on the horizon. Even if there is no dark clouds circling out there, its better to lock up your search results for keywords preemptively.

Facebook, Google, and Everyone Else- Come up with something new!


I’m spending a lot of time reading articles these days about how the web marketplace is evolving. As a marketing consultant and business planner for our LA web design firm, I have to stay up on what is occurring in the expanding microcosm of the world in which I live.

The news stories that usually catch my eye are the ones that relate to how the major players in my industry, or that affect my industry are doing business. Most of the time, these processes and approaches lead me to be disappointed that I’ve joined a massive sandbox with one or two or three different companies throwing sand in one another’s eyes or drawing lines and daring the others to cross. Because my last visual interpretation of these events proved so popular, I’ve drawn another:

Google versus Facebook in the sandbox

Can't they just grow up?

Okay, so maybe Mark and Eric and Larry don’t really throw sand at each other. But they kind of do….

Big companies all seem to view the market as it stands as being relatively fixed. No one really is looking to innovate in such a way that the marketplace online grows any larger. Instead, Google wants to build a social network. Which will probably be different in some respects, but not in most. And Facebook wants to build a search functionality for its social network. It will be different than Google in some respects, but not in most.

And everybody is slapping patents on everything- using broad terms and big law firms companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook and more all hammer out creativity and innovation. Really Facebook, a patent on social search? And Microsoft, patents on software that makes content more readable? Yeesh.

All in all, we’ll continue to see some pretty mundane innovations come through the pipeline. I played with the Color social networking app and found it odd and obnoxious. I don’t have time to effectively manage or leverage my own Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare accounts, and I know most of my clients don’t either. Facebook was nice since it killed off Myspace. Twitter is pretty innovative. But I don’t want to be regurgitating again and again and again, the same data spelled a little differently in each of these avenues.

A master social network, perhaps a ‘god’ network, would be great, but everyone is drawing lines in the sandbox by limiting the portability of their data. Of course, I understand it from a business perspective, but why not try and find a way to get back out front Facebook? Why not design or develop a mobile application that makes you the front runner instead of the big fat rich old guy in the room? At one point, no one wanted to be Microsoft- the aging static behemoth. Then Apple came along and became the aging static behemoth in more attractive colors. Google’s getting a little bloated for my taste and seems to be losing its ability to really operate as the best search provider (which is why Bing continues to climb in market share). They keep focusing on making search more instantaneous and responsive but pollute search results with what they assume is relative info. I don’t want them making assumptions for me unless they know me well enough to do it accurately. Even my wife can’t instant predict my search query. We tried, actually, just to test the theory.

Please, for the sake of everyone, not just those of us working in web design or search engine optimization, someone be innovative. I don’t need Twitter with location specific pictures. I don’t need another mapping application with points of interest. I don’t need another site to visit to tell my friends what I did or am going to be doing. Most of them already know from Facebook, or from LinkedIn, or from Twitter, or blah.

Of course, the risk of innovation is that you’ll probably be sued.

I wonder if these companies really are large enough to control the user experience, rather then simply be a tool or conduit for it. Are the masses really as ignorant as these major corporations seem to think?

My prayer is that the next innovation will be intuitive and give the users back the control, and take it away from these incompetent, blundering elephants. Someone hurry up and introduce a creative mouse into the room, that way we can see what happens when the big guys are cleared out. (I made this analogy just to insert another picture).

Scared away by creativity, Google and Facebook flee the room

I should do kids books, no?

Someday our dreams of a rapidly advancing social webspace will come. But then it will be slowed again when the children of innovation become the grandparents of mundane-ness. I just don’t understand why this takes so long. Our processing speeds are up, the capabilities of people around the globe to interact and share ideas is constantly increasing, and yet we have to play by the same rules that applied a decade ago.

I shouldn’t point all the blame at the big companies- the biggest corporation of them all, the US government should get a share of it. They control the patent office that is used as a tool for well financed firms, and they also keep sneaking further and further into our market. Either by getting Congress involved in web privacy law, or by building fake social network profiles to influence people’s opinions, our government is as corrupt and eager to throw sand as anyone.

How To Aggressively Grow A Business


As a young entrepreneur in the heat of battle right now, I have a few tips to people who interested in being extremely aggressive about growing your business:

  1. Be relentless.  If you aren’t working 12-16 hours a day you won’t make it.
  2. Have savings you can live off of for a while.  Reinvest all revenues back into your company.
  3. Your whole job is to deliver your product/service to existing customers and to aggressively find new ones. Never forget that.
  4. Don’t be afraid to hire people, but do be afraid of hiring bad people.  Who you hire will make or break your business.
  5. If you fall down (which you will many times), stand back up quickly and get back to work.

Android Top Smart Phone


The Android phone finally ran down Blackberry RIM and jumped into the number one spot for largest market share in the valuable smart phone arena. Apple only showed small growth in percent during that period.

How did Android do it? The answer, is its open source platform. Allowing anyone with the technical expertise and know how to upgrade, improve, and modify allows the OS to be an evolving entity, rather then a traditionally static bit of code that requires periodic bits of patching before one or two big launches. All of the variations, and customizations, allowed cell phone manufacturers to inexpensively climb on board, and as the support for the OS commercially grew, there was no turning back.

Undoubtedly, there are a few lessons to be learned here.

1. Swift adaptation, in nature and in business, is important to survival. This is a story that’s repeated time and time again across every sector of our economy. The early adopters who are also early adapters survive- keeping themselves moving just ahead of the competition and the stagnation that seems to inherently come with success.

2. It’s better to be broadly appealing, then to have a niche specialization. At least in terms of total dollars. Apple and Android are gobbling up their opponents market share in mobile devices and as one time leader Blackberry tries to break out of its ‘professional device’ platform and reach out to tweens, teens, and twenty somethings, it is now playing catch up. Microsoft’s operating system and professional suites are going the same way. With tablet devices from Apple and Android launching every day, its static reliance on being ‘the’ office suite and ‘the’ operating system are coming under fire.

3. You don’t have to be the best at what you do. You just need to be able to copy it better. Microsoft got this down back at their beginning. Apple has gotten it better lately. Google’s long been an incubator for innovation (which translates to buying good ideas before they can become competitive with its own offerings). If your competitors are doing something right, something better then you, analyze, borrow, improve. *I’m not exhorting you to break copyright or trademark laws here. I don’t buy into the notion that bright ideas are singular flashes in time and then are gone- I think the bright ideas we see are simply the highlight of a long line of other progressively improving products or models. Facebook isn’t that innovative. It’s just an improvement on what we had before. Same is true with Google. With Apple. With Microsoft, and with nearly every other product you’ve experienced in your life.

Obviously a lot of the innovations are occurring online. We work with a number of startups who are marketing, selling, and advertising for things that have been around for a long time- they’re just doing it in a method that’s better then those who went before them. Look at www.Swimspot.com. First company to sell swimsuits? Nope. First company to sell swimsuits online? Nope. Are they innovating the way that swimsuits are bought and sold online? Yes.

We’re working on website launches for a couple of Los Angeles companies that we won’t be disclosing as of yet. But when we heard their ideas, we slapped ourselves up side the head, and asked why someone hadn’t thought of this before.

If you have one of those ideas, and are looking for a Los Angeles web design firm that also has the experience to develop, and market your product effectively, give us a call. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

Gas prices got your customer down? Get your LA business online!


$3.50 a gallon? Yikes. I remember when I first started driving and the price per gallon crested over the $1.00 mark. I remember my parents telling me to drive less or get a job. Everyone was griping about a buck. Now, this summer, experts are saying $4.00 per gallon of unleaded fuel is almost guaranteed. Certain large metro areas will definitely paying more.

What do the economists say is going to happen as a result of the increase in prices?

Start car pooling and eliminate unnecessary trips out? Absolutely. Avoid traveling? Yup. Monitor their expenses more closely? Right on.

I know that as small business owners, those things can seem quite frightening. A lot of you depend on your customers to visit your store to generate revenue. Most of you have been relying on word of mouth or location to draw you the crowds.

The notion that those crowds may not be coming out as frequently, or in as large a number, could be frightening.

But of course, there is an answer, and the fact that you’re reading this here means that you probably already have an inkling to what it is.

GET ONLINE!

Its not just a tired mantra from a business consultant. The reason the internet is so huge, and keeps on growing, is that it is convenient. For the most part, you’re not charged by miles per gallon! It doesn’t matter where you live in Los Angeles or Seattle or the surrounding neighborhoods. If you’re online, your customer can find you, reach out to you, and make a buying decision without having to spend the extra gas.

I know that for me to drive 25 miles in rush hour traffic costs over one gallon of gas. Depending on where you’re located, and if most buying decisions require more then one visit, you could be costing your customers an extra twenty bucks per trip! That starts to factor into the buying decision at some point.

Coalition Technologies will help you eliminate that cost for your customer and create a high ROI with a custom coded website that focuses on your business model. Don’t just look for a cookie cutter templated site that says nothing new, and fails to engage your clients. Have us create that unique marketing campaign that is always looking for ways to pull a new qualified client in through the door.

Whether you want to transition your Santa Monica storefront to a Los Angeles ecommerce site, or if you just want to inform your prospects about your services and prices with an informative web design, we can help. And since social media marketing is beginning to play more and more of a role in search engine rankings, let us help you get a Facebook and Twitter account set up. We won’t just link to those profiles with a ‘like’ button. We actually can create a meaningful user experience on each, and provide coaching on how to build up a following that translates to money.

If you’re in the LA area, and want support for search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media, or Adwords, we’re here. Give us a call (you won’t even have to drive anywhere)!

Los Angeles SEO


There are a lot of SEO individuals, firms, agencies, companies, etc out there.

What sets us apart from them?

Most of them will sell you on numbers- X number of links. X number of page views. X number for ranking. X number of hours.

But do any of those things even matter? Of course they do, or it wouldn’t sell. But they don’t matter as much as they want you to think they do!

Linking is a great example. Promising a LA search engine optimization client 100,000 links is easy. A quick search and peruse, and you’ll find that there are tons of little spam sites that are happy to provide you with that number and more for a minimal billing. BUT, this type of behavior is not only watched for, its punishable. Google does not like this type of phony voting. It wants to know that people are linking to high quality sites because they’re relevant and have good content. Look at what happened to JC Penney after they got busted for using a black hat SEO company that was amassing a billion links, but wasn’t doing so with the right idea of marketing in mind.

Page views are the same way- who cares how many people look at their site if they’re not the client that you want?! What good is a high page view count, if you have a horrible conversion rate, and a high bounce rate. You just look like a manure pile to Google and Bing. All they see is someone who is cheating the system and doesn’t have what people want! Its an easy success to create, but not the one you want.

Coalition Technologies is a Los Angeles web design and search engine marketing partner that is focused on understanding how your business operates, how you can make money, and getting you results that are actually meaningful to your success. Give us a call and see why so many other companies are finding that the web really is the Promised Land.