Need a Social Media Marketing Director

It's been almost two weeks since I began my active search for a corporate position.  Updating resumes, writing cover letters, scheduling interviews its as though I am graduating from college again.  It's been almost four years since I've written a real resume, and boy did it need an update.  I've even engaged a head hunter to help find a suitable position at the salary I require.

My ventures in self-employment have been devastating to my personal finances, but no risk equals no reward.  It will take some time for me to dig out of this hole and repair my credit, but it can be done.  To help me get my resume current for the positions I am seeking my head hunter gave me a list of social media job descriptions they have found to be common.  I had to keep myself from chuckling a little as I read a few of them as they are things I do on a daily basis now.

Here are a couple of excerpts from some of them:

Blogger: Responsible for opinionated, stylish writing and frequently posting new content on the Internet.

Online Community Manager: Acts as the front line brand manager by interacting with customers and fans in real time on various web platforms.

Director of Social Media: Responsible for developing and overseeing the execution of strategic social media and digital initiatives, including developing and managing viral marketing campaigns, creating and supervising high-profile channel accounts, and integrating interactive media into the overall business strategy.

Social Media Account Manager: Responsible for setting up social media accounts and maintaining daily activity.

Social Media Coordinator: Responsible for daily posts/tweets to all applicable social media outlets.

As I said all of these are things that I do on a daily basis for my own personal branding, Stigmare and Emerald City Fashion Week.  Any leads or referrals  for these or similar positions would be greatly appreciated.

Offering Local Internet Marketing Class

While at a local gathering of small business owners in the Kirkland area to learn how to more effectively use TeachStreet.com I was a bit taken aback by the lack of basic Internet marketing knowledge. What is taken for granted by so many of us active with web 2.0, social media, and sites like Facebook and Twitter is lost among the vast majority of small business owners. One of the most notable comments was a woman complaining of the lack of relevance of her search results because of companies paying Google to rank high on the page.

Needless to say I felt obligated to help educate the other participants at the event. The first myth to be dispelled was that of having the ability to pay Google for organic ranking. Google does not and will not accept payment for organic ranking as it takes away from the user experience. This is why the randomly change their search algorithm to prevent deceptive optimization techniques. If you want to show up high on organic results you need to have reliable, relevant and authoritative content. It really is that simple, keywords play a role but are not the end all be all.

Proper use of approved SEO and SEM techniques will help you achieve these three qualifiers, so be highly selective when choosing a service provider. Ask them for their certifications, has their company won any awards, ask what industry blogs they read and enewsletters they subscribe to. Personally I get emarketer.com and adage.com daily& clikz.com weekly. Although I must admit I've fallen behind on my Google AdWords Certified Profession status. Something I plan on rectifying by the end of this quarter, as well as Yahoo Ambassador status.

So, if you are in the Seattle/Bellevue area check out my classes on Teachstreet.com. I look forward to meeting you soon.

Cyber Monday

Friday afternoon I am hosting an event at the Columbia Tower Club for some Biznik folks on Cyber Monday. In preparing for the event I found a couple of other blog posts with some advice that is just as true today as it was last year when it was written. Rather than plagiarize their work I'll just provide you links so you can read them yourselves.

They are: Conversation Marketing and Palmer Web Marketing

If you run an e-commerce site you need to read these to maximize your results this year especially given the recent volatility in the financial markets. I don't for see us hitting the same increases as years past, but I do believe that a significant amount of revenue is on the table for the taking. The 21% increase last year or the 26% increase of 2006 are not likely, but I've been surprised before. For a full report on 2007 Cyber Monday spending check out ComScore.com's press release on the matter.

So if you are in the downtown Seattle area on Friday and want a wonderful gourmet buffet at the top of Columbia Center head to Biznik.com and RSVP for my event. I would love to see you there.

Cheers!