Vinny La Barbera, Founder and CEO of imFORZA Shares His Professional Journey

Vinny stepped onto the path to entrepreneurship when he took a part time job at a local web agency when he was pursuing his MBA at SCU. He was a student by night and a site-building project manager by day. His clients were real estate agents.

He loved what he was doing but the websites that were created weren’t getting any real results. Knowing that there was the opportunity to take the services and the whole process to an entirely new level, he began researching ways to drive traffic to the websites and get the phone to ring for the realtors.

He eventually built up an Internet Marketing Division for the web agency. It evolved from requiring the efforts of a few people to keeping a team of ten busy servicing about 8,000 real estate agents.

What sort of internet services does imFORZA provide to the clients? All of them! “Everything from search engine optimization to payperclick management and content development,” said Vinny. They’re also really big on tracking.

How does it all start with a new client? “Before we do any type of work, we spend some time digging into their current business. We look at their online competition. We look for opportunities. Then we put our recommendations together.”

“A lot of times, we find ourselves being more business consultants than just internet marketing specialists. I think that’s a big part of what motivates us and keeps me interested in this industry.”

There’s One Thing That Vinny Would Change If He Could Start Over Again

“Travel more before starting the business. It becomes harder and harder to do when you’re actually running your business because the business is always with you. It goes with you, wherever you go.”

“If I had any insight into that before I started running my own business, I probably would have taken some time to travel a little bit more before I jumped into things.”

Now, he gets away during those rare times when he’s not working. “I like to get outdoors. Hiking. Camping. Anything that gives me a chance to disconnect from being in front of a computer and being online.”

imFORZA: Not Just For Real Estate!

Aside from real estate, imFORZA serves local small and mediumsized businesses and professional services such as lawyers, doctors and dentists.

“And, we have a few bigger ecommerce brands that we work with. Those projects are fun because everything is very tied to the traffic that’s driven and the experience that a visitor has on a website and whether they’re going to buy or not.”

What Apps Does Vinny Rely On The Most?

“I’m a Mac person. I try to use a lot of different Mac Apps. I’ve got over 300 apps on my iPhone. But, I’d say, in relation to work, one tool I probably couldn’t live without would be SalesforceIQ.”

“There are other tools that do the same thing Yesware is one of them. Sidekick is another. They all essentially do the same thing. They basically connect to your email account and they allow you to do a few different things that really help with productivity, especially on the sales and marketing side. It cuts down on time and the need for having an assistant for scheduling stuff.”

“You can see when people open your emails. The ‘read receipts’ are really helpful because if you’re really working an account and trying to land a deal, or doing outreach for a linkbuilding campaign, you know when people are looking at, reading and opening your emails. That helps you to use that time opportunity to followup with them.”

“If I see that someone has opened my email five times, it may be a good time to reach back out with a phone call or another followup email. It might be a better time to reconnect on that conversation.”

Connect with Vinny La Barbera at imFORZA now to discuss all of your business marketing needs. Allinclusive solutions are custom tailored to deliver optimum results for every size and type of business.

8554463679 imforza.com

twitter.com/vinnylabarbera facebook.com/imforza

And, if you happen to be in the area, just drop in! 319 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245

Content Provided by Frederick Advice Givers Podcast #030