Dennis Yu – Facebook Advertising and Marketing Exemplar

A few years ago (I think in 2006 or 7), I went to an affiliate marketing presentation at the Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group monthly meeting in Boulder, Colorado. It was not about Facebook advertising or social media, but the evening was interesting and worth the drive from Carbondale. After the meeting, at the reception, I met a real nice fellow named Dennis Yu. Dennis previously handled Yahoo’s ad spends. We started talking shop and ended up going to a sushi house for a couple hours. He told me about his new business, Blitz Local, which helped others with “local search.” I was impressed with this mans knowledge and professionalism to say the least.

The next time I met Dennis was a couple years later at DK’s 2009, Purpose Inc. Think Tank for elite marketers in San Diego. I wanted to pick everyones brain that weekend but it was not so practical to do so as everyone was busy having fun, I didn’t want to be the party pooper, so I decided to listen closely and just get some  ideas from the natural conversations that were happening. I met many Internet millionaires that weekend, and of all of them, what Dennis Yu was talking about Facebook Marketing really grabbed my attention as it was obviously way ahead of the curve and seemingly well beyond the Facebook understanding of the other experts gathered there. I had already been practicing and consulting social media strategies for a couple of years, but my best takeaways from that Think Tank were the gems provided by Dennis Yu, which were immediately usable for my clients and my own Facebook marketing efforts.

Then I saw Dennis at the 2009 PubCon event in Las Vegas. I think Dennis was tied up and could not make it to the Webmaster World Conference and was just able to arrive on Friday at PubCon. I helped him into the PubCon event so he could do some networking (and so I might get a chance to eavesdrop on what new and exciting Facebook goodies he might be sharing).

I did not have the pleasure of Dennis company again for a year, where he was a panelist on a “Facebook Marketing” session at the 2010 Webmaster World Conference in Vegas (my 7th WMW). I got to the session late but there was a seat front and center and directly in front of him that I settled in to. Panelists presented; yes, they were knowledgeable and deserving of being on the panel, but Dennis, when it was his turn to speak, he eclipsed the lot of them. He presented last, a short and sweet and revealing talk. Then came the Q&A part. I noticed that whenever a question was asked, Dennis would each time, politely wait for other panelists to chime in, but quickly there was this pattern where it felt like the persons question was hanging there, not really answered, and after a short quiet, Dennis would say something like: “might I add…” and man o day, did he give a concise and spot on answer to almost every question, after others tried and failed (or withheld?). I noticed that when Dennis spoke, the other presenters stopped doodling and turned in their chairs to make sure they heard what he was saying, as surely, it was school for them that day also. Obviously the entire panel and audience of about 1000, was astonished by Dennis Yu’s insight and deep level of understanding regarding the reality of Facebook, Facebook Marketing and Facebook Advertising. After the session closed I got to Dennis first and asked him to join me for dinner, that I had my Subaru with me and was raised in Vegas and knew the town well. When I turned around to leave, I had trouble getting away because about 50 people were crowded behind me, all trying to get a chat with Dennis, I didn’t see any of the crowd lined up for the other panelists. This is not to critique the greatness of any of the other talented panelists but does illustrate how Dennis Yu has always been leagues ahead of all others regarding Facebook advertising and marketing expertise. I’ve since heard rumor that when Facebook themselves are confused about something in Facebook, they find Dennis and ask him how it should work!

After the mayhem, Dennis did call me and he and I and a couple of his colleagues went to Spring Mountain for Viet Namese (he introduced me to PHO, the yummiest soup ever). Then we went to Robert Drysdales Brazilian Jui Jitsu Academy, where my bro Sean Riggo gave us a free private Kali lesson for about an hour (Thanks Sean, your awesome too!) and then, Dennis opened his computer up and asked Sean if he could show him some Facebook goodies. I got to shoulder surf for about the next two hours, and honestly, I was seriously humbled by what I saw, a rare tour into the world of Facebook by the foremost expert in the world on the subject matter. Dennis has developed suites of Facebook advertising tools… ya know, I am just having trouble finding the most accurate way to describe it for you. We learned a lot! And it was the core, deep, important, usable Facebook stuff to know. He filled my plate and I am still digesting it here 6 months later. That whole day and night was a wonderful and Facebook enlightening experience for me. In fact, on my drive home I decided that the best takeaway I got from driving to Webmaster World and PubCon 2010 was running into Dennis Yu and getting to spend precious learning time with him in the afterglow of the event. By the way, I recommend attending that conference also, as it is always well worth the investment no matter what level you are at in your Internet career. The Webmaster World Conference provides a great bang for your buck!

So, what is the point? If you have a big budget for Facebook Marketing and Facebook Advertising I’d highly recommend you try and hire Dennis first. He is the top dog in that arena, I’m sure of it. Also, I would think highly of Google and Bing if they could get it right and put the #1 guy at #1 in the search results for those searches: that is, “Facebook Advertising” and “Facebook Marketing Expert” definitely should belong to Dennis Yu. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (that College produces these kinda savante marketers) and his client list reads like a who’s who of fortune companies, that are marketing with Facebook. Let’s get Dennis to #1 in Google and Bing (to improve search results relevancy if nothing else). Here is how you can help do that: Add a link from a page on your site to the URL http://www.dennis-yu.com with the anchor text “Facebook Marketing Expert”  or to the URL www.blitzlocal.com/facebook/ with the anchor text “Facebook Advertising” and he’ll be there in no time! Check out his Website and excellent Facebook advertising information at this URL: www.blitzlocal.com/facebook/ and if you like what you see, bookmark it, or send it to a friend in need or Tweet it, or better yet, link something relevant to it! Dennis gets massive fans for Facebook hungry companies, if you make it to his Facebook marketing expert page or to his Facebook page friend him, like him or send him a question even, he’s a great guy. If there are five superheros in the Internet Marketing industry, assuredly Dennis Yu is one of them. I’m sure he wants to help you.

A big up to Dennis! Thanks for being so positive, cordial, generous, genuine, professional and all around awesome. You are a true exemplar of the Internet marketing industry.

Robert

PS, if you can’t afford Dennis, give me a call for Facebook consulting and stimulus; I’ve helped many get it right.