Local charity DFYIT, Drug Free Youth in Town, has retained Coral Springs, Florida-based IMMG Charity Fundraising    to develop new fundraising programs. The company’s first project is a high-quality coupon book developed by IMMG in cooperation with local merchants. DFYIT members will sell the book for $20; with a sales goal of 10,000 the project will provide monetary support and visibility to the charity’s mission.

Coral Springs, Florida-based IMMG Charity Fundraising has been retained by Miami-based charity DFYIT, Drug Free Youth in Town. DFYIT is a CARF accredited, nationally recognized, school-based substance abuse prevention organization that focuses on, and gives recognition to, students who choose to live and promote a healthy, productive drug-free lifestyle. The initial focus of the partnership is the development of a coupon book. DFYIT members will sell the book to support ongoing programming including providing adolescents with leadership development, drug awareness counseling, conflict resolution and pro-social involvement in their school and community. The coupon book will contain thousands of dollars’ worth of coupons for local merchants including grocery stores, restaurants, coffee and recreational activities. The 5,000+ local DFYIT youth members in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties will be selling the book for $20; their goal is to sell 10,000 books. In addition to helping raise funds for local programming, kids will be earning prizes such as movie tickets, iPods and iPads.

IMMG Charity Fundraising has developed an interactive website, www.dfyitbook.com, where consumers can go to view and purchase the coupon book as well as learn more about DFYIT and their mission. Local merchants can also find information about being included in the coupon book at the site. IMMG Charity Fundraising Ideas CEO Wayne Marnell is excited about this opportunity, “working with Micah (DFYIT Executive Director, Micah Robbins) on this project has been a fantastic collaboration. With our marketing efforts, and DFYITs huge core of enthusiastic members, this fundraiser promises to be a big success. We are looking forward to growing the relationship into a long and successful partnership.”

IMMG Charity Fundraising, a subsidiary of Internet Marketing and Management Group (IMMG), provides charities with real sources of funds. IMMG Charity Fundraising Ideas helps qualified charities raise money that will make a difference. They provide campaigns that can be implemented quickly and repeatedly so sustainable cash flow becomes a reality. By combining the experience from parent company Internet Marketing and Management Group (IMMG) with the newest internet technologies, IMMG Charity Fundraising is uniquely equipped to meet the unique fundraising needs of charities. The integration of traditional printed materials with interactive websites, animated videos and online ordering make the fundraising process effortless and meaningful. www.immgcharityfundraisingideas.com

Internet Marketing and Management Group (IMMG) provides Web-centered, integrated marketing and management solutions that help organizations enhance identity, increase profit and productivity, and connect with customers. IMMG was founded on the belief that they can provide clients with the tools they need to outperform their competition by delivering integrated services and providing a single, cohesive source for Web-centered marketing and management expertise, supported by cutting edge, Web-based technology.

Services include Website design, logo design, and print materials design; SEO (Search Engine Optimization to get client companies on Page One of Google); PPC; marketing campaigns; branding; managed ROI; and public relations. With each client, they deliver value-oriented services that help clients dominate the competition and are FAB-integrated; these include FAB 1-8PASS and e-Branding; FAB 2-Website and e-tracking; FAB 3-marketing campaigns; and FAB 4- Sales Cycle. IMMG’s philosophy is to use the best technology possible; use the most creative, cost-effective, and measurable methods to deliver a compelling message through that technology; create strong client relationships that pro- mote trust and eliminate traditional pay-per-project concepts; offer unlimited access to the best technology through a manageable monthly payment plan; and create standardized processes that can be delivered in an integrated fashion, which propels the company’s methods and message to value-oriented solutions that cannot be achieved otherwise. The IMMG Solutions Teams build more than Websites; they build businesses. www.webimmg.com

While the issues that surround back links can be confusing, the idea itself is fairly simple. A back link is a hyperlink from someone else’s webpage back to your webpage. A kind of a virtual nod of the head to you from another website who uses your content as reference, inspiration or just plain likes your site.  Sounds like a great idea, a community building network of shared intellectual property all giving credit where credit is due? As with all great ideas, someone decided a shortcut was needed and the era of the ‘link farm’ emerged.

A link farm is a group of websites that all link to each other or, in its most basic form, a webpage that is nothing but links to other pages. Early on, as developers were testing the boundaries of search engine optimization the goal was quantity over quality when it came to back links. However, as the ranking process used by search engines evolved, the quality of back links became increasingly important. Link farms are now collectively frowned upon, and the big players, like Google, consider them akin to spam and linking to them may negatively affect your site’s ranking.

Now for the good news: creating quality back links isn’t as hard as it sounds, and once you know the right way to do it you will be well on your way to search engine optimization. The golden rule is to first write good quality information that people want to read:  be thoughtful, original and informative. Remember that search engines look at both the quantity and quality of your back links, so don’t try to forgo putting the time and effort into creating meaningful links. Some good ways to get quality back links: submit press releases and articles to multiple sources, post appropriate and relevant content on others’ blogs and in forums, share your rich media with links as well.

Another good tip: when leaving back links in content be sure to vary your links to get the most exposure to your site as possible. Do not just link to your homepage; be sure to link to the internal pages of your site as well. This will insure visitors find content that is relevant to the site that provided the back link as well as keeping your site in good standing with search engine rankings.

A MediaMind study reports that including rich media in your site can provide just such a boost. So, what is it and where do you get it? The term ‘rich media’ describes a broad range of digital interactive media that provides dynamic motion. This interactivity can occur in the form of streaming video, webcasts, user-controlled slide shows and animated videos that can either be available as a download or imbedded in the page. However, if you choose to add video to your website be prepared…this can increase user visits by up to 9 times.

As with any marketing expenditures, you should do your homework when choosing who will provide your online marketing services. True online marketing is more than just a website, to thrive in the online arena you must find a company that integrates SEO, web 2.0 traffic building including blogs, e-articles, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and of course, the all important rich media.