interview

Lee Odden - Top Rank Marketing

There are 3 situations in which I perform speaking or training tasks. The first is speaking at conferences like Pubcon, Search Engine Strategies, DMA or PRSA events. Blogging, social networking and speaking at events pretty much makes up the bulk of our marketing efforts. Topics at conferences tend to focus on what will draw attendees and what conferences have come to associate TopRank with: SEO and public relations, blogging, social media and online reputation management.

I also get hired to speak or do training for certain conferences or associations such as the Direct Marketing Association with the Search Engine Marketing Certification program, or the 2-day Social Media Smarts workshop.

The third type of speaking or training event I’m often involved with is when companies want to bring someone in to speak at a company event on up and coming topics and strategic focus for search, PR and social media or to do in-house training of interdepartmental teams.

You have often pointed out the necessity of having good fresh content on your blog. Have you ever had writers block? What options does a blogger have when they just can’t seem to focus?

Writers block rears its ugly head a lot more often than people think. I’ve been actively blogging for over 5 years and sometimes it’s not just writers block, but a time and resource issue. TopRankMarketing.com is a respected company and we’re pretty busy. That makes me busy and sometimes spending the kind of time I would prefer on writing and researching a post simply isn’t available.

The way to get around focus or time issues is to be proactive. I keep 10-20 draft posts in our blog at any given time. Rather than sitting down and writing a 1000 word post in one sitting, which still happens at 3 am from time to time, I add to them over time. That makes it a bit easier from a resource standpoint. We also do regular features which are easier posts to do, but also things people look forward to such as reviewing SEO blogs each week, running Reader Polls, interviews or crowd sourced posts from Twitter and LinkedIn.

We know Search Engines are always changing there dynamics and because of this Web Marketing companies always have to be on there toes. I preach that being interactive online is at least equally as important as SEO. What do you think? And what should we watch for in the SEO future?

Yes, being social online is very important as a standalone marketing activity but also because the byproduct of being social creates content. That content might get passed around, attract links and motivate bloggers and journalists to write about you.

As long as web developers keep making web sites that don’t play well with search engines, there will always be a need for SEO as its traditionally defined. What I think you’ll find after talking to other long time SEO consultants is that keyword expertise and pull marketing insight is invaluable in many other online marketing disciplines ranging from public relations to social media. Anything that can be searched on can be optimized. As long as people can search, there will be a need to SEO.

Future SEO is taking more of a well rounded approach to marketing online rather than focusing exclusively on standard search engine rankings. Everything from Universal search to personalized to social search makes what was previously a 2 or three dimensional discipline a multidimensional expertise.

If I was starting a new e-commerce site today with some SEO friendly features already built in, what software should I be considering?

The answer to that question needs some budget insight first. A 500 product store online has different needs than a store with 5 million SKUs. The fundamental features to look for are: unique and editable title tags & meta description tags, ability to include descriptive text on top level category pages, sub category pages and of course, individual product pages, dynamic population of alt text on images, intuitive URLs, flat site architecture – avoid too many levels deep, ability to export HTML and XML site map files automatically, and many, many others.

Also, no matter what, an ecommerce site can benefit via SEO with a blog. Ecommerce site blogs can present new products, tips on using products, solicit customer generated content, run promotions and offer product support information.

What do you do when you have some spare time to yourself? Any hobbies?

Spare time? What’s that? I spend as much time as I can with my 3 little musketeers plus a bit of travel, cooking, working out, watching movies, games, some sports and gadgets.

Mediaphyter - Jennifer Leggio

Fortinet’s expansive product portfolio includes enterprise firewalls, security solutions for MSSPs and telco carriers, database security and email security appliances in addition to our SMB offering. Therefore I need to spread the love across all of our different market segments and I personally spend a lot of time focusing on enterprise deployment scenarios. Our marcom and product marketing teams, however, do a great job of creating tools (speakers and events, road shows, etc.) and collateral for our channel partners who sell to the SMB. Also, I think it’s important to clarify that digital media is only about 10 percent of my current job. I spend the largest chunks of my time managing global industry analyst relations and working with our threat research teams on their communications.

You are blogging for ZDNet, what topics do you cover there and how do you get the interviews? Are they arranged for you or do you pursue them?

I write about what I like to call “social business.” Which basically means I try to find companies — preferably Fortune 500 or enterprise tech companies — who are doing interesting things and benefiting from implementing some sort of social program. I also write a touch about social media and security as well as public relations challenges in this social media world. I arrange all of my own interviews and develop my own content calendar. Our editors are great. They give us guidance when we need it and might make some suggestions for site-wide story packages, but they trust us to produce the best work we know how.

In an article about your new tattoo, you describe this as somewhat of a personal overture to allow yourself the ability to become more transparent. Specifically to allow your personal and professional lives to be a bit more intertwined. For those fighting the same battle, why choose to do it and how have you benefited?

It’s a personal decision. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone to do or not to do it. I personally find it very natural to just be one person in all places. You can ask anyone I’ve ever worked with or worked for, I march to the beat of my own drum and I embrace my personality no matter where I am. There is no “buttoned up Jen” and “casual Jen.” They are the same person. I found it exhausting to even try to attempt that and doing all of this social media stuff gave me a reason and an avenue for further melding everything together. There are still bumps and hurdles along the way. It can be stressful living so transparently at times. But I’ve also mastered the art of privacy in a world of transparency. Like I said, this is the benefit I experienced, but everyone needs to make this decision for him- or herself. A lot also depends on your company culture, too. If you work for a financial services firm or you’re in a legal profession, you’re going to think more deeply than a marketing girl who also writes about this kind of stuff on a daily basis.

I am a total metal-head, and come to find out, that’s your thing as well. Give us your top 3 favorite bands and what you like about them the most.

I am a metal fan but I am not a total metalhead. My more metal friends would laugh if they saw you call me that. I listen to everything but I do have a soft spot in my heart for metal and nothing — I mean nothing — gets me moving more than a good rock band. I’m taking the liberty of expanding this to metal / rock versus just metal:

TOOL – Have you ever heard that bass line about two-thirds of the way into “Eulogy”? Every time I hear that I am convinced I could die happy. Pun intended.Yet I feel that way about most TOOL songs.

30 Seconds to Mars – This band is a lyrical pleasure for me though I definitely enjoy the music. This is also one of those bands I feel compelled to point out that I loved before they got all popular and eyeliner-ish. If you don’t believe me you can ask my friend Hillary. We drove all the way to Santa Barbara about six years ago just to catch them with a favorite local band of mine called Strata.

System of a Down – I’m a sucker for political / movement rock. I never really got die-hard about Rage Against the Machine but SOAD, especially the “Toxicity” album, gets me in the heart. I can say the same for Serj Tankian’s current solo work. I can’t say the same for Daron Malakian’s Scars on Broadway. I want my SOAD back.

Ties for fourth? As I Lay Dying / Lamb of God/ Killswitch Engage / Static X / Dimmu Borgir / The Booda Velvets (I know you didn’t ask but I feel empty not saying something about them)

What do you find to be the most compelling reasons to personally brand yourself, even if you are working for another brand?

If you make the decision to develop a personal brand, I think it’s necessary to make sure it is removed from your corporate brand to some extent. Why? Because you can take that with you to your next company, of course. Look at Richard Binhammer of Dell as one great example. Everyone knows him as Dell’s “social media guy.” He wears the Dell brand proudly. However, we know him first as Richard and, heaven forbid, if he ever leaves Dell his brand will carry him. If he was merely “Dell Guy” then he’d have to start from scratch in his next gig. I also believe, and it’s been proven, that companies benefit from having a more human element associated with their external corporate culture. The years of a company being identified by merely its assigned spokesperson or executive team are over. Every employee can be a voice for his or her company now — you just have to mind your corporate policies and make sure what you can do and how loudly you can do it.

Note from Craig: If you enjoyed this interview, you might also enjoy an interview I had done previously with Mack Collier! Please leave comments if something moves you, if you have some thoughts, or you have an opinion or question. Thanks for Reading!

Shevonne Polastre at work

I use Twitter for everything, but mainly to connect with interesting Tweeters who can show me a thing or two. It’s great because I have actually found some wonderful people who have taught me about life, parenting, technology, law, fitness, and the list keeps growing. Recently, I have been networking with other business owners and companies, and have even found some freelance work. Twitter is a great tool because you can be anyone interested in anything, and you will find some kind of use for it.

Tell us where you are from and what you do for a living?

I live in Fairfax, VA, which is part of the Washington, DC area. I came here from Panama when I was seven years old with my two sisters and parents. When I was a teenager, I wanted to take a year off college and backpack through Europe. However, my parents were very strict and didn’t allow that to happen. It’s one of only regrets that I have, but I am still young, so I still have time to take that trip. The experience will be better than I imagined because this time I will take my kids with me.

For almost eights years, I have worked as a Technical/Proposal Writer. Since I was a child, I’ve been surrounded by computers. My mother was a Computer Programmer for the Department of Defense and would sometimes bring her work home with her. While my two sisters would watch television or play, I would sit with her for hours helping her debug code. When I was 17, I began working as a Help Desk Technician for Erols’ Internet (remember them? I think they became RCN). For the next seven years, I helped customers with errors, built computers, and setup networks.

After high school, I started working on my Computer Science degree. I learned different programming languages and was trying to achieve my dream of becoming a Video Game Developer. However, I got pregnant with my son and realized that I had to change my path. Programming consumed almost my entire life and with a baby, there was no way that I would be able to dedicate the same amount of time as before. I thought about what I was also passionate about. Writing. I bought a book about what I could do with an English degree and came across “Technical Writer.” As a Technical Writer, I have been able to combine my two loves: Writing and Technology. I am happy that I can honestly say that I love what I do for a living.

Do you know others who use Social Media tools like Twitter in your area? What would you say about the knowledge of people in your area about Social Media in general?

I know there have to be others in DC who are using Social Media, but I only know a few of them. DC is a very political and high tech area, so Social Media is part of their vocabulary. Why? The future of technology, mainly in the Social Media arena, has huge legal, ethical, political, and technical issues, so there are many people in the DC area who are partaking in some aspect of it. When I was in grad school, I took a graduate class that focused on Social Media and another one that discussed the legal issues concerning it. I’ve told people about taking these classes, and they say they have never heard about such classes. It shows that it’s a hot topic in DC.

What gets you really motivated and excited?

Technology. Anything new that comes out, I have to test it out, or I feel like it’s the end of the world. Everyone knows that the way to my heart is getting me the latest gadget. Technology, not diamonds, are a girl’s best friend.

Give us one crazy fact about yourself you haven’t already shared.

I have the habit of singing everywhere I go. My sister use to get embarrassed because I could be in the middle of the grocery store, and I would belt out in song. Therefore, beware if you are ever out in public with me, you might be the next victim of having people stare out you for being with a crazy girl singing off key. You have been warned.

Any other tidbits you would like to offer?

• Think before you speak
• Get familiar with readability statistics to ensure that any piece of document you are presenting to an audience (unless they are experts in the topic you are writing about) is written for someone for 6th – 7th graders, and that readability is higher than 50%.
• When writing a proposal, ensure that you mention your potential client three times more than you mention yourself. Companies have a habit of boasting how great they are instead of what they can do for the client.
• Documentation might be tedious in the short run, but will save you tons of money and time in the long run.
• Writing and Technology are wonderful, but mix the two together, and you get Art