Search Influence Co-Founder Completes Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program

April 7, 2015

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New Orleans-based online marketing company Search Influence announced today that one of its co-founders, Angie Scott, who also serves as COO, has successfully completed the intensive 10 session course to help train and develop area leaders in technology and entrepreneurship in Louisiana. The course is a total of 10 sessions where qualifying local business owners can hone their skills and strategies to grow their businesses. This was especially valuable for Search Influence because they help businesses grow online through search engine optimization (SEO), online advertising, social media marketing, and a full-range of online marketing services.

Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses is a program developed in partnership with Babson College, a leader in entrepreneurial education. The 15-year-old program is a $500 million dollar investment that Goldman Sachs has made in small businesses to help promote entrepreneurial growth and new jobs by educating business owners on internal process and planning as well as the resources made available to them by their local and state governments.

The participating small businesses were nominated by the public and selected for their efforts over the past year in growing their own companies. The courses are focused on creating new jobs and promoting overall revenue growth for the companies the program helps to cultivate.
“I’m really excited to have completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business course,” said Angie Scott, a staple of the local search industry. “The curriculum forced us to push our management team harder and change many of our processes to better support scale and growth.”

With over a decade of finance and management experience, Angie will now focus on the application of the resourceful information that the 10,000 Small Business program provided her. Angie’s operational leadership has enabled Search Influence’s revenue growth from zero to $5,000,000 in less than seven years with an international client base and three years on the Inc. 500/5000 lists. She has helped put New Orleans on the map as a hotbed for the next wave of online marketing and is an example for women leaders nationwide. Angie was also recently named one of Silicon Bayou’s top 100 most influential technology innovators.

Search Influence is heavily involved in the local community through providing online marketing solutions for small businesses in New Orleans. They also work with local nonprofits such as The Audubon Institute and YRNO (Youth Rebuilding New Orleans) by leveraging Google’s grant program for nonprofits. The Scotts agree that going through this program as a small business has indefinitely changed their perspective and has given them clearer insight to the challenges their clients are facing daily.
“For me, the most gratifying part is focusing on our internal growth and successfully scaling our company further in 2014. We’ve been very fortunate to hire some great talent and bring on some wonderful new clients and partners,“ CEO Will Scott said.

Search Influence was founded by Will and Angie Scott in 2006 shortly after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans. The company started with no paid employees in a spare bedroom of the Scott’s home. Search Influence now has 57 full-time New Orleans-area employees plus more than 30 contractors. The company was recognized by Inc. Magazine as a 2013 Inc. Hire Power award winner, placing among the top four private business job creators in the state of Louisiana. Over the past year, Search Influence has grown a steady 11 percent in revenue, increasing its number of direct clients by 20 this year alone as well as adding five partners to its white label platform.

The Scotts have led their company to become the largest online marketing company on the Gulf Coast, a Flyover 50 winner and winner of the American Marketing Association’s 2012 Marketing Awards of Excellence (MAX).

About Search Influence

Search Influence is a national online marketing company based in New Orleans, specializing in helping small businesses succeed online. The only New Orleans company on the 2011 Inc. 500 list, Search Influence is the largest online marketing company on the Gulf Coast with 57 full-time employees supporting its clients and partners. Search Influence offers search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing and a full-range of online marketing services, including in-house production services.

About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is designed for business owners with limited resources who have a business poised for growth. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to growing their businesses and creating jobs within their communities. Business owners who qualify include but are not limited to those with companies in operation for at least two years, who have at least four full-time employees and operations in economically disadvantaged areas. Business owners should also have a business model that could scale to create more jobs. http://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses