Local newspapers are now partnering with companies like OrangeSoda to sell SEO services to their advertisers. This was just covered in Search Engine Land by Small Business Marketing Blog author Matt McGee. The word is out – OrangeSoda is partnering with GannettLocal a division of the largest US newspaper publisher Gannett Co. They are serving the Phoenix, Arizona market to offer their clients online marketing services. Read On
ReachLocal was lucky enough to choose for their opening day of trading a day when the Nasdaq tanked by over 4%. Despite an incredibly tough market and actually opening below their issue price of $13 per share, the stock ultimately closed at $14.98 which is up more than 15%. Good for ReachLocal! That means their advisers at JP Morgan and BAML came up with the right price. If the stock had skyrocketed, then management would feel like they left money on the table by not pricing it higher. Had it closed down or flat then you would question why they didn’t price it a little lower as long as they were going to price below the filing range anyway. As it stands, the stock did exactly what you’d like a stock to do in its first day of trading. Based on my assumptions from my first post, that has them trading just above 1.0x 2010E Revenue (if you assume they grow at their current 50% clip). So despite having to price below their filing range, they raised about $40 million if you assume total fees for the offering in the 7% range.
$13 per share? What in the SMB happened?
One might expect OrangeSoda, a competitor, to derive a certain degree of schadenfreude from what has to be an exceedingly disappointing result for both ReachLocal and its investors. However, we are actually really dissappointed that the market had such a tepid reception for a good company in the sector. I did note in my earlier post that timing was questionable. But even though the book of orders for the stock didn’t come in strong, management and investors apparently felt like the benefits outweighed the costs of delaying or pulling the IPO.
Read On
ReachLocal is set to price its long awaited IPO today after market close and begin trading tomorrow. Why it took so long between their initial filing and this week’s IPO is between them and their underwriters. Market conditions were much more favorable for new issuers earlier in the year and many recent IPOs have either traded below their offering price or offered below their filing range. Now after months of waiting and multiple amendments, it will be very interesting to see if they are able to price within their filing range and to see how the stock trades.
Regardless, it is great to see a company in the sector go public and we view this as another major milestone for the Local Online Marketing industry. Other recent milestones include Google’s reported offer of over $500 million for Yelp and the subsequent rejection of that offer and a decent volume of smaller acquisitions and investments by consolidators like Deluxe, AOL, IAC, and YPG/Canpages.
Read On
If you want to learn online marketing without leaving your business, check out PRWeb’s newest online conference – Thrive. In this economy and with the changes in the marketplace, you need to make time to learn the latest ways to market your business. This conference will do that.
Below I have linked to one of the speaker’s most recent blog posts or web sites so you can get an idea of their expertise. Check them out industry experts who are speaking:
Here is the complete Thrive conference schedule. We hope you’ll attend May 12, 2010, from 9:30am to 5:00pm EST.
Special Pricing
As a reader of this blog you are eligible for a special reduced price registration of $79 for the entire day-long event (without the discount the cost of registration is $99). To register just go to Thrive 2010: The Ins and Outs of Online Marketing and enter discount code PRW20 to receive the reduced price.
This friday (April 16, 2010) co-founder of OrangeSoda, Derek Miner, will be speaking on “Online Marketing and Advertising Strategies” at the Utah Valley University Entrepreneurial Business Conference. It’s not too late to register for the show, check it out.
We will be at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show until Thursday the 15th at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Whether you’re a current client or just interested in Search Engine Marketing feel free to ask us to give you a visit while we’re down there.
If you’re a current client of ours and would like to get a little more exposure online we’re also available to come and video you telling us what your experience working with OrangeSoda has been.
We’ll be making an appearance at the Davis County Business Expo on the 8th-9th (this Thursday and Friday.) We’ll be making our representatives available for all your Search Engine Marketing questions.
The Expo will be open from 9am to 7pm. This is a great opportunity for local businesses to come get SEM advice from real life experts!
Find us in the directory and come see what getting fizzed with the OrangeSoda is all about!
It appears as the entire show has been cancelled at the last minute. We’re still trying to figure out what’s going on but for anyone that was interested in talking to an OrangeSoda rep we’ll have one in the Davis County Area, send us a message using the contact form or call Travis Christiansen at 801-706-9592
Are you an internet marketer and love soda? Does a fun job with cool co-workers and all the orangesoda you can drink sound good to you? Well, if you like the first two then you should apply at OrangeSoda! We’re looking for talented internet marketing professionals to join our team.
Apply now or head after the bump for the job description.
