Sunshine Foundation’s mission is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children. The organization’s founder, Bill Sample, was a police officer and a member of our armed forces that often saw firsthand the physical, emotional and financial challenges faced by families of children with debilitating illnesses. He knew that between high medical expenses and the time it takes to care for such children, parents and the children both suffered. He was determined to make a difference in the lives of these families and that difference culminated in the establishment of Sunshine Foundation in 1976. Along the way, Dream Village was established, a 22 acre site that provides a way for these very special families to enjoy peace, tranquility and quality family-oriented activities away from hospitals and
needles.

During our recent visit to the Sunshine Foundation’s Orlando location, Director of Development Rich Mergo shared a story about a parent with a special-needs child that rarely slept. Because of this, the parent lost sleep as well for fear of the child getting out in the middle of the night.

“As a parent, I understand the value of a good night’s sleep as well as the safety of our little ones,” says Jason Johnson, Chief Marlin. “While we happen to be a web design company that works in the virtual world of the internet, we live in the real world too and do what we can to help.”   Marlin Consulting Solutions was pleased to assist this outstanding organization. Upon receiving our donation that enabled the Village to install door alarms at their facility, Kate Sample, President of the foundation said,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
“I would like to offer my most sincere gratitude to you for your very generous donation. How can we begin to convey to you how much your donation means to these children....These children face each day with a positive attitude, overcoming hurdles that event as adults, would depress the best of us....Your compassion and caring are characteristics that of us as mankind should strive to possess. We
thank you for the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and kindness.”

Learn more about Sunshine Foundation at www.floridasunshinefoundation.org or to see you how you can help too.

Marlin Consulting Solutions supports the Flagler County Education Foundation.

We recently received a kind note of gratitude from the Flagler Education Foundation:

“Marlin Consulting Solutions assists us with all aspects of marketing, web maintenance, and more!  They have even recently been refurbishing old computers to be then given
to children in need. Many children are grateful to Marlin Consulting Solutions and I know our team is too!”

The Flagler County Education Foundation was formed in 1990 by a group of caring volunteers who wanted to give back to the educational community by creating a direct support non-profit organization. The result was the Flagler County Education
Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, evolved as a direct-support organization committed to generating financial support and awareness to enhance educational programs benefiting students and teachers in Flagler County Public
Schools. The Flagler County Education Foundation funds and manages several core programs and also works closely with the school district to ensure the success of other programs.

They are currently gearing up for their “Packs 4 Backs” event on August 4 that will ensure that children in Flagler County that need help will head off to the new school year with essential school supplies. Visit them at www.flagleredfoundation.org for more info and to learn how you can help.

Marlin Consulting Solutions adds “Zen” to customer support.

As an ongoing effort to continually improve our customer service. we have implemented a new help desk. This will speed up response times and provide improved customer service. You can see this new interface at our customersupport center on marlincs.com you can also email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to open a support ticket.

June 7th Twitter announced on its blog, the release of a new “Follow” button said to be the service’s version of the Facebook “Like” button for pages.  We are a little curious as to what took so long?

image courtsey of Twitter

Marlin Consulting Solutions is happy to announce a great new video series of great information for your business. If you have a topic you would like us to cover please do not hesitate to Contact Us

So who’s front and center at Marlin as well as behind the scenes creating all that magic for our business clients? It’s time to find out; we’d like to introduce you to our Marlin Team!

 

This is a list of 65 local directories you can submit your business to.

As a local business it is extremely important to be found when and where your customers are looking for you.
That being said there are lots of place out there that are trying to get you to list your business but just because you can
get a listing doesn't mean it is relevant to your customer needs, or is an opportunity to grow your business.  
This list is a power house that will increase your exposure and not to mention the SEO benefits you’ll gain, in most cases.

Now, you’ll want to focus your efforts on websites and directories that actually drive traffic so might not be a fit for every business.

 

As a business owner, you have this nagging feeling that you have to do something with regards to marketing your business online, but you are just not sure where to start. If this is your current situation and you are sick of watching all your competitors roll past you online, this is for you. This installment of our newsletter will help. We know it can be difficult but here is an outline of what you should be thinking about on a monthly basis.

When you decide to put together a marketing plan for your website, trust me you will decide to do this one day if you have not done so already. If you are currently considering a marketing plan for your website you might want to pay attention. Start by taking a step back. Ask yourself if your website is ready for more traffic. What good is all that new traffic if your audience doesn’t have a clue what to do when they make it to your website?

Once upon a time, there was something called SEO copywriting.

These SEO copywriters seemed to have magical word skills that allowed them to place just the right keywords in just the right places and amounts, and even in the densities that were just right for miraculous top rankings. And that’s all you needed . . . or at least that’s what was advertised.
There’s no doubt that the location and frequency of keywords is still critical. Search engines work by keying in on the word patterns people are looking for and returning relevant content. But that’s not all there is to it.

Here’s the deal . . . much of what determines the ranking position of any particular page is due to what happens off the page, in the form of links from other sites. Getting those links naturally has become the hardest part of SEO, which is why we’ve seen the mainstream emergence of social media marketing as a way to attract links with compelling content.

Put simply: If your content isn’t good enough to attract good, natural links, it doesn’t matter how “optimized” that content is.
That’s why a good SEO copywriter is also a writer who has a knack for tuning in to the needs and desires of the target audience. And because links are so important, those needs and desires have to be nailed well before that content will show up prominently in the search engines.

The same emotional forces that prompt people to buy can also cause other people to link from blogs, and bookmark, vote, and retweet from social media platforms. The context is different, as are the nuances, but it’s still a matter of providing compelling benefits in the form of content.
“Ask yourself what creates value for your users,” sayeth Google.
Their brainy engineers continue to diligently create smarter search algorithms, while people-powered social media sharing delivers links and traffic as a reward for compelling content.

This article is part of "SEO Copywriting Report" by Brian Clark. You can download your copy here

“Content is King”, “Content Rules the Web”. I’m sure you have heard over and over again how important content is. Surprisingly, it is the “Hush Hush” or “Secret Sauce” to every successful Internet marketing campaign. But why?