Court Cunningham is CEO at Yodle.com, an online marketing and lead-generation firm. Prior to joining Yodle, Cunningham worked as COO at Community Connect, a niche social networking company, and as general manager of marketing automation at DoubleClick, provider of digital marketing technology and services. Cunningham received a bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard.

Please describe Yodle.com.

Yodle.com is an online lead-generation company that works with independent business owners—notably health care professionals like plastic surgeons—to help them bring in new business. Yodle’s goal is to make buying online ads simple and easy for the owners of private practices, and offers a cost-effective alternative to the outdated yellow pages—the previous standard for advertising with small businesses.

How does it work?

Yodle helps practices generate new business by connecting them with potential customers who are searching online for plastic surgeons. First, Yodle advertises practices online to customers in your local area. Second, Yodle directs these customers to the Web site so they can learn about the practice. Third, interested customers call the practice to set up an appointment.

How does Yodle.com help the success of a plastic surgery practice?

Let’s say a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia who has no Web site and has only advertised with yellow pages signs up with Yodle.

Step 1) Hired on a month-by-month basis rather than a financially binding contract, Yodle builds a tailored Web site for the physician, which is up and running within 2 weeks.

Step 2) Yodle then purchases strategic search keywords, so that now when a potential patient types “plastic surgeons in Philadelphia, PA” into Google, ads leading to the newly created site appear.

Step 3) Clicks turn into calls; and thanks to Yodle’s unique algorithm, the surgeon in Philly can track exactly how many phone calls are generated as a result of his advertising efforts with Yodle.

How many phone-call leads does Yodle.com generate per month?

Yodle has generated 100,498 calls total to date and averages 9,000 calls per month.

How much of a return can physicians expect to see with Yodle.com?

On average, $1 invested with Yodle results in $12 in additional profit.