CLEARLINK Technologies Celebrates Incredible Year of Growth

4 March, 2010

Utah Business – March 04, 2010 – CLEARLINK Technologies, a Utah-based integrated local marketing firm, recently hosted its annual celebration at The Tower at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where several employees were recognized for their exceptional efforts by being rewarded with a Porsche for a month, a trip to Cancun, Mexico and two trips of a lifetime to anywhere in the world.

For the past three consecutive years CLEARLINK has grown at an unprecedented rate, landing in the top 15 of MountainWest Capital Network’s Utah’s Top 100 List, honoring Utah’s 100 fastest growing companies. To show its appreciation CLEARLINK threw a black-tie event to honor its top-producing employees as well as the rest of the staff.

“CLEARLINK has grown at a tremendous rate, doubling almost every year since its inception,” said CLEARLINK CEO Phil Hansen. “Our culture is unique, and to stay true to that environment we delivered a phenomenal event awarding our top employees with well-earned prizes.”

One of those prizes, awarded to the top two employees of the year, was an all-inclusive “dream trip” to any location in the world for two. The two employees selected as CLEARLINK’s top performers choose a trip to Vienna, Austria to “study” European chocolate and a trip to Rome, Italy.

“We believe in building our employees with experiences they’ll never forget,” said Hansen. “That’s why we created ‘The Bucket’ which will be an opportunity for any and all employees to have their dream experience come true with the financial aid of CLEARLINK.”

“The Bucket” is a literal bucket that will feature all the engraved names of employees CLEARLINK has worked with to fulfill one of their lifelong dreams and/or accomplishments.

The other top salesmen and employees of the year, which was based on a simple equation of number of sales, conversion percentage and personal attitude, received a trip to Cancun, Mexico for their efforts. Also awarded at the party, was CLEARLINK’s Employee of the Month Award, which is a month with a Porsche Cayman.

Search Keywords Mean Business

2 February, 2010

Thomas Claburn, Information Week – January 29, 2010 – Companies spend a fortune protecting their brands. But in the context of local search advertising, keywords may matter more than trademarks.

Google claims that more people (82%) use online search engines like Google than any other medium to find local information. The number of mobile searches with a local focus is estimated to be almost 30%, according to The Kelsey Group.

And local search is only becoming more important, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and the tech industry's focus on location-oriented data and services. Small businesses that focus on their own brand, says Bret Fitzgerald, VP of business development for marketing services company Clearlink, are losing out on a significant amount of online traffic if they ignore generic keywords.

The reason is that far more people conduct local searches for generic terms like "pizza" or "coffee" than bother with a branded search like "Round Table Pizza" or "Peet's Coffee."

"Generally speaking, you see more searches around categorical terms than branded ones," said Kelly Hansen, local search director of operations at Clearlink.

For example, CLEARLINK, which manages local and map search listings for small businesses, tracked some 2,400 searches for "pizza phoenix" in the Phoenix, Arizona, area last month, but only 1,600 searches for "pizza hut phoenix" and 320 searches for "dominoes pizza phoenix."

In Austin, Texas, the preference for generic terms was even more pronounced. Clearlink saw 3,600 searches for "pizza austin," 91 searches for "pizza hut austin," and 170 searches for "dominoes pizza austin."

Fitzgerald says that it's imperative for businesses to understand that they can bring in customers if their local listings are managed properly, so that they show up for the appropriate generic queries in Google Maps, for example.

CLEARLINK hopes to make its 4th annual fitness competition the best yet

28 January, 2010

Salt Lake City, UT – January 2010 – It was another snowy white holiday season in the Rocky Mountains. And with all of the fun parties, good friends, and great eating over the past two months, the ski slopes are not the only things that are soft and “fluffy.” Every year CLEARLINK employees look forward to the annual fitness competition, strategically placed in the first 3 months of every year. “It makes us feel a little less guilty about enjoying our holidays because we know that it is right back to the diet and gym come January” Said Adam Mergist, EVP of Operations. Last year, Mergist lost over 30 pounds and gained significant muscle mass during the competition. And here is the kicker, he didn’t even win!

The benefits of a healthy workplace go well beyond a better physique however, according to a study done by The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine employees who exercised even as little as once a week reduced their average number of sick days in half; from more than 10 days in the previous year to less than 5 sick days.

CEO Phil Hansen participates in the competition every year and said, “This is not just about fitness, it reflects our culture of tenaciously and competitively improving ourselves as individuals and as a group.” This year the CEO isn’t the only one chasing the grand prize expected to be well over $5000. Last year over 50 employees participated in the company sponsored event.

CLEARLINK won’t just stop at the benefits of good health for the participants. This year they plan on investing in better health coverage for employees that are taking care of themselves. Traditionally the company wraps up the competition by donating volunteer time and a dollar-per-pound to the Utah Food Bank, something that employees look forward to every year.

For more information about CLEARLINK including employment opportunities visit www.clearlink.com

CLEARLINK book fair provides the gift of reading for neglected Utah kids

14 December, 2009

Salt Lake City, UT December 14, 2009 – Christmas will be a little brighter this year for the children staying at The Christmas Box House; a transitional home for children who are removed from their homes due to severe neglect and abuse. CLEARLINK, in partnership with Usborne Books, an internationally recognized leader in high quality educationally focused children's books, were able to generate a donation of nearly 800 dollars of books for the kids in need.

"For many of these children, these children's books are the first they have ever seen," Said house director Sherri Enger. "The conditions these children come from are truly horrifying and to have a loving adult read the children their very first story creates a magical moment for kids that are going through a terrible crisis."

More than half of the books donated went to an in-house classroom to be used for educational purposes. The remaining books will be given to the children as year-round Christmas gifts a tradition for all the kids as they arrive at the home.

"Every child deserves a childhood," Enger continued, "and that is why these types of donations go such a long way."

For more information on how you can help visit www.thechristmasboxhouse.org

To find out how you can become a part of CLEARLINK visit www.clearlink.com

CLEARLINK wisely invests in high-yield futures….kids' smiles!

28 October, 2009

Salt Lake City – October 2009 – CLEARLINK employees and their spouses enjoyed dinner and a private concert given by songwriting legends Loggins and Messina at The Grand America Hotel as contributors to The Regence Caring Foundation for Children (www.caringfoundationforchildren.org).  The foundation is a non-profit organization providing free dental care services to children with severe needs. The Foundation specifically provides services to low-income children in Utah whose families cannot afford private coverage, but receive no government assistance. The dental care provided helps children suffering from untreated oral disease, dental related school absenteeism, weight loss, costly emergency room visits and life-threatening infections.  “CLEARLINK generally focuses its charitable contributions on programs that allow people to reach their full potential” said Cammie Cable, CLEARLINK Director of Organizational Development, “anything we can do to make sure Utah’s children have basic life essentials helps us reach that goal.”

CLEARLINK’s contributions will ensure that over 50 Utah children will receive critical dental care for an entire year.  A good cause, dinner, drinks, and a great concert were not the only things CLEARLINK got out of the evening however, they also emerged victorious after a heated auction and walked away with dinner and a Utah Jazz game in a private suite when the team faces Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat in January.  Aggressive auctionee and CLEARLINK Director of Sales, Aaron Hansen, summed it up well, “It’s great to have so much fun and know that at the end of the day, events like this help Utah kids.”