This session is a part of the DMA on-going virtual seminar series. Arman will discuss methods for incorporating powerful web design trends and tactics that drive ROI. DMA seminar attendees will be taken through a set of case studies that highlight the most popular web design trends of 2008 including the use of online videos, polls and blogs, ajax forms, popular font styles, landing page optimization and 2008 consumer trends to be on the look out for.

If you are interested in joining Arman in this powerfully interactive seminar, click here to secure your registration.

About Arman Rousta

Arman Rousta is the CEO of Blueliner Marketing, an internet marketing agency and web development firm that specializes in ROI-driven branding and web marketing initiatives. He brings over 12 years of internet marketing experience to his clients. Arman is recognized as an industry expert and has been quoted in popular publications, including Crain’s New York, Wall Street Journal, Success, New York Times, Popular Science and Inc Magazine.

Arman is the pioneer behind the 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing and Blueliner’s offshore teams in India, Bangladesh, and China.

As wages and other costs in India continue to escalate at rates as high as 15% a year, more New York companies are going next door to Bangladesh…”Bangladesh is definitely emerging as the next center for outsourcing,” says Lilach Nachum, a professor at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business…

In Bangladesh, information technology staffers get $5 to $10 an hour, versus $10 to $20 in India. As a result, switching can reduce overhead by as much as half. Some Indian companies that get U.S. outsourcing business are moving their own work to Bangladesh, and their New York clients are happy to follow.

“India is almost oversaturated, but Bangladesh is up-and-coming,” observes Arman Rousta, co-founder and principal of Blueliner Marketing, a New York online marketing consultant with operations in Dhaka, the capital. “People there are hungry.”

Mr. Rousta was initially skeptical when a Bangladeshi-American employee suggested that Blueliner start outsourcing in Dhaka as well as India. But the executive reconsidered when costs began rising. The size of Blueliner’s Dhaka operation is now double that of its Indian one.

Though most of Blueliner’s outsourcing is IT for small and midsized businesses…several larger clients, including Citigroup, have had Web work done in Bangladesh.

This is an excerpt from the article “Outsourcing Moves to Bangladesh,” published in Crain’s New York Business, December 17, 2007. The Full article is available in newsstands from December 17 to the 23 and to members of Crain’s New York Business.com.

Since its creation in 2003, Blueliner has leveraged offshore outsourcing in creative ways to lower costs for clients. Offshore work was originally sent to India, hailed as the prime market for top quality, highly educated programmers and technical support staff, and then later expanded with an additional office in Bangladesh in July of 2005.

Bangladesh is a rising star in the international economy whose government has focused development efforts over the past 10 years on a country-wide ICT infrastructure that has resulted in widespread access to many of the same training materials and open source software available in the US.

From the beginning, the Bangladesh team has been a tremendous asset to the company. Reduced competition for workers in Bangladesh allowed Blueliner to get team members with top quality education, superior English language skills, and excellent work ethic at a cost clients can afford.

“Our team in Bangladesh has performed at an increasingly higher-level since we started there in 2005,” says Arman Rousta, CEO of Blueliner. “Overcoming the cultural and time barriers was made possible by our U.S. management team’s willingness to travel to Bangladesh and train staff, as well as everyone’s flexibility to work ‘weird’ hours.”

The team has exceeded expectations since it was started, topping expansion goals to bring the entire offshore team to 14 employees in the fourth quarter of 2007, and has reshaped traditional thought about what to expect from an offshore team in several ways.

For one thing, a culture of independent learning in Bangladesh, which emphasizes open source rather than proprietary software, has resulted in a team highly knowledgeable at manipulating the open source programs, which Blueliner favors for its internal operations and clients because of better flexibility and lower cost.

The enthusiasm of the Bangladesh team has also allowed the Blueliner corporate office to develop a unique offshore training program that goes beyond website design and software development, into the realm of internet marketing, corporate branding and social media. In essence, this diffusion of labor, allowing creative and technical jobs to be done overseas, sets apart Blueliner’s offshore business model and re-establishes its reputation as an innovator.

About Blueliner Marketing

Blueliner Marketing is a full-service marketing agency specializing in internet marketing, social media and offshore outsourcing. With offices in New York, India, Bangladesh, and China, Blueliner follows “The World is Flat” business model of efficient implementation, providing high-level website design and development services at competitive rates.

To learn more, visit www.Blueliner NY.com

What the pros say: “At the end of the day, the technical work and link building will only take you so far. You have to invest in building up the quality of the site so that the search engines regard it as a source of high quality information” - Imran Hassan, Blueliner Marketing

To download and read the entire white paper, please visit Business.com.

Where does that leave full-service interactive agencies that have always integrated online and offline campaigns into the media mix? Precisely in the right place.

Blueliner, LLC, a full-service, interactive marketing agency specializing in web development, marketing and creative media services, announced the launch of BluelinerNY.com, a new website with social media features and resources for entrepreneurs and marketers.

Blueliner Marketing was founded by two entrepreneurs Arman Rousta and Dali Singh, in yes, the basement of their Jersey City home. Five years later, Blueliner has grown to become one of the fastest-growing agencies in the US.

Headquartered in the heart of NYC, Blueliner is now a global operation with offices in Bangladesh, India and China and follows the ‘World is Flat’ business model of 24/7 implementation and ROI-centric marketing methodologies. When you walk into the NYC office, you’ll meet Imran from Bangladesh, Caleb from Kansas, Dali from India, David from Chicago and Arman from Iran. The diverse office environment quietly resonates with the company’s vision and offshore business model.

“How can the world, individuals and organizations best adapt to new media and technologies, effectively, without being overwhelmed? While that sounds like a broad, over-arching aim, I find it to be relevant to how we operate and what Blueliner aims to be. This vision is true to our entrepreneurial make-up”, says Arman Rousta, Blueliner’s CEO.
With the launch of BluelinerNY.com, business professionals can take advantage of educational resources like the 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing and Opening an Office in Asia podcasts, informative blogs, webinars and featured spotlights on established entrepreneurs, media folks and bloggers.

About Blueliner Marketing, LLC
Blueliner is a full-service interactive marketing agency specializing in web development, marketing and creative media services. Blueliner seeks to utilize its entrepreneurial, media and web technology skills, to achieve brand recognition and maximize ROI for a select group of clients who offer innovative and meaningful products.

To learn more, visit www.bluelinerny.com, or contact Dali Singh at dali[@]bluelinerny.com, 212.904.1240.

With the long-awaited launch, just in time for Back to School 2007, ESP Wizard now boasts a fully automated college savings platform, with up-to-date 529 plan fund information from Morningstar and 401kid’s own proprietary 529 ranking algorithm.  Blueliner’s IT know-how enabled the application of such a sophisticated, statistical methodology.  Behind the complexity lies the aim of simplifying the often stressful education planning process for families.

The next step is an aggressive PR and marketing campaign, which will also be handled by Blueliner in the Fall of 2007.

For small- and medium-sized business, knowing where to spend the marketing budget to get the best ROI can be a challenge. Take your cue from America’s top corporations: Move your marketing dollars to the web. With the right strategy and technology, your campaigns can produce fast results backed up by a level of business intelligence that allows you to refi ne your messaging on the fl y to increase conversions and drive down costs. Using these techniques can cut your total marketing budget in half, according to Arman Rousta, co-founder and Principal of Blueliner Marketing Services, an interactive marketing firm with offi ces in New York, Chicago, India, and China.

Below are three winning online moves he says you can make to get maximum ROI from your Web presence.

(For more on online marketing, see these companion pieces: Search Engine Savvy, Online Marketing Case Study Andrew S. DiMino; for an in-depth exploration, read our Success Guide to Online Marketing.)

NATURAL SEARCH OPTIMIZATION (NSO)

What is it? Also known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), NSO includes all the techniques used to get your site noticed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

Why use it? The number one way Internet users fi nd Web sites is through search engines, so achieving a top organic search ranking is arguably the best way to drive traffi c to your site. It was the number one strategy used by the pros in 2006, according to a report* released by the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO). Search drives traffi c to your site 24/7/365.

How to get started: First, make sure your site has lots of relevant content, and add fresh content on a regular basis. (Your human visitors like this, too!) Next, avoid using Flash for navigation elements, and skip the Flash “intro” page; since search engines can’t “see” the text or links within Flash, it creates a barrier to getting the rest of your site noticed. For those who know some HTML, review your code to be sure that the meta-titles (invisible pieces of code that help search engines categorize your content) of every page are unique and accurately refl ect its main theme. Check to see that the most important headline on your page (which should be enclosed within what coders call H1 tags) and the page content contain the keywords you believe users will be searching for. Finally, if your site doesn’t have a site map, now’s the time to add one, and if you do have a site map, consider optimizing it for Google. (See www.google.com/support/ webmasters)

Don’t try “tricks” such as keyword stuffing (filling your page full of keywords to the point that the text no longer makes sense), using hidden content, multiple >h1< tags, or link farms (pages that are merely long lists of links to other sites). Any of these can get your site sandboxed (excluded from search results altogether), leading to a costly loss of traffic. And don’t risk a temporary drop in rankings by doing a major redesign that changes the site structure, page names, and content of your whole site at once. Instead, change your site gradually over the course of several months, and inform important sites linking to you if any of the links they’re using have changed. Timeframe: “We can get your site top Google rankings in fi ve days,” should be the last words out of a potential NSO consultant’s mouth before you show her the door. Don’t expect to see signifi cant results from NSO work for anywhere from three to 6 months. It isn’t unusual for companies to contract for one-year NSO engagements.

Your Investment: If you have an intermediate knowledge of HTML, you can probably do some of the most basic NSO work on a small site yourself, but larger sites or sites in a highly competitive category will need the help of an expert to win. Depending on the size of your site and your industry, Rousta says costs can vary from $500 to $15,000 a month during the terms of your engagement. NSO isn’t a one-shot deal, either; plan on re-evaluating your position and strategy once a quarter after that if you want to stay ahead of the pack. One warning: although the algorithms search engines use are complicated and ever-changing (see Search Engine Savvy), if your NSO consultant treats his trade like a mystical art and can’t explain what he’s doing for you in layman’s terms, that should be a red fl ag that you’re probably working with the wrong person.

Measuring the ROI: Estimating ROI from site optimization is diffi cult because it is a long-term investment, but Rousta and other experts are convinced it is the most cost-effective marketing technique when done properly, bringing increasing returns over time. And if you’re doing it right, NSO also makes your site as friendly to visitors as it is to search engines.

* “The State of Search Engine Marketing,” February 2007; Radar Research, LLC and Intellisurvey for SEMPO (www.sempo.org)

PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC)

What is it? PPC ads (or ‘paid placements’ as they are sometimes called) are displayed alongside organic search results. Your ad will only display with search results for the terms you bid, and no matter how many times they are displayed, you only pay when your ads are clicked.

Why use it? Unlike NSO, with PPC you control (through the amount you bid) where your ads appear, how much each click costs, and when your listings will be shown. If you want to get your site or brand noticed immediately, or you have a time-sensitive campaign to run for a sale or special event, PPC is the way to go. That’s probably why paid listings, although not used as often as NSO by the firms queried in the SEMPO study, accounted for a whopping 86% of total spending. How to get started: Google, Yahoo, and MSN all have do-it-yourself PPC programs, but even though it seems easy, don’t make the mistake of rushing into PPC. “A good paid campaign requires strict attention to which keywords are converting surfers into customers and how much you’re paying for them,” Rousta warns.

Each of the engines provides a keyword tool that will give you a sense of the relative popularity of different terms on its site. Spend some time using them to estimate the number of clicks per day at various bids and with different keywords before you jump into the PPC waters. When writing your ads, be sure that the main title contains the keywords you’re targeting; this greatly increases the ad’s click-through-rate (CTR).

Finally, don’t make the mistake many beginners do of getting caught up in the eBay-like excitement of bidding for a top spot: Although it’s natural to want to be number one, it’s often not the best investment. For instance, if the top bid for a term is $1.25 per click and the second spot is bidding at $.75, it makes a lot more sense to bid $.80 than it does to spend another $.46 a click just to be the “top dog.”

If you can’t commit to managing your bids on a daily basis, you should consider hiring a paid media consultant. They’ll usually charge a percentage of the total spend per month (anywhere from 10% to 25%), but you can avoid costly mistakes by bringing in an expert right from the start.

Timeframe: The great thing about using PPC is the instant gratifi cation; your campaigns will begin to produce results within the fi rst few hours of launch. Then you’ll spend the next weeks and months refi ning your bids and trying new terms to bring costs down and conversions up.

Your investment: Depending on the keywords you bid, prices can range from pennies to up to $40 per click. The good news is the total investment each month is completely up to you. It all depends on how much traffi c you want to drive and what you are willing to spend to get it.

Measuring the ROI: Aside from the promise of immediate results, the other reason top online marketers love PPC campaigns is the ease of tracking their return. Assuming you have a good analytics program in place (don’t overlook Google Analytics – even though it’s free, it has some of the most advanced reporting available), you’ll know exactly how much each “click” eventually nets you and which search terms those clicks came from.

E-MAIL MARKETING

What is it? This form of marketing involves the use of e-mail to build your brand, keep visitors coming back to your site, and promote products or services.

Why use it? Simply put, while 50-60% of all Internet users fi nd what they want with search engines, 90% of them use e-mail.** There’s no quicker way to reach an audience. Compared to “snail mail,” it’s more inexpensive, immediate, targeted, and easily-measured.

How to get started: First, build up a database of subscribers by offering users the chance to “opt-in” to one or more newsletters or special offer categories on your site. Then send them frequent e-mails targeted to the interests they expressed when they signed on. Consider using a “double opt-in” method, in which subscribers have to respond to an e-mail to confi rm their interest after the initial “optin.” While this two-step process will defi nitely reduce the number of sign-ups, it also helps prove you are not a spammer, and can keep you off the “blacklists” (blocked senders list) of major Internet service providers. According to Rousta, most e-mail campaigns have open rates of about 20%. But to get the best results, he suggests doing what’s called “A/B testing”: Pick 10% of your mailing list and split it in half. Send group A one e-mail offer, and group B another. Next, fi gure out which e-mail offer is more popular, then send that to the entire list.

You should never try to manage a large e-mail list yourself unless you have special expertise and the time to work with the various ISPs should you fi nd yourself blacklisted in error. Instead, outsource e-mail list management to companies such as Constant Contact or Cooler E-mail. Using their web-based interfaces, you’ll be able to deal with all the non-technical aspects of sending e-mails yourself, while they juggle the details of bounces, removing users who unsubscribe, adding new users who sign up, and offering proof that you are using industry practices should any spam complaints arise.

Timeframe: The amount of traffic your site gets will determine how fast your list grows, but even while it is still small, treat your subscribers well, offering them special coupons, sales, or free information. Remember: they asked to hear from you on a regular basis, so they are the most likely to buy and keep on buying.

Your investment: You can get started for as little as $15 a month, and send out thousands of e-mails for less than $100 dollars. One good investment you may want to make early on is purchasing leads from a reputable partner through a double opt-in, co-registration process. (This means that while users register for something on another site, they are also given the opportunity to expressly opt-in to your e-mail list.) You could pay up to $.50 per name for such an arrangement, but it will give you the chance to grow your list faster than you could on your own, especially if your site is new.

Measuring the ROI: Like PPC, it’s fairly easy to measure your return on e-mail marketing, especially with the in-depth reporting offered by many of the e-mail service providers. But don’t just track ROI from each e-mail sent - track it by customer over time; you want to know not only if your efforts are increasing sales, but if they are increasing sales per customer.

**according to eMarketer, July 2006 (www.emarketer.com)

“We are excited to expand to Bangladesh,” notes Blueliner CEO Arman Rousta, “as several of our U.S. staff members have close ties there. The country is full of talented, ambitious young people, many of whom are versed in web programming.”

Blueliner is handling Interactive PR, SEO and Online Advertising for Knuru.

The opportunity to bring Internet-based products to India has never been better. Join us in this interactive webinar which will explore the issues and challenges for brands looking to penetrate the Indian market. Arman Rousta, CEO of Blueliner and Imran Hassan, VP of Business Development will share their experience on assessing the market potential, budget allocation, determining the media mix and analyzing the results through real life case studies.

When: Tuesday, October 30
Time: 12 PM EST (9 AM PST)
Where: Online web conference
How: Register online
Registration Deadline: Thursday, October 25
Cost: Free