Corporate mergers can be difficult. It basically means that two teams of executives have to find some sort of compromise while devising a new business model, followed by a series of unsavory decisions regarding their staffs.
The first difficult merger I witnessed was while I was a content writer at PlattForm Advertising. They bought a small publishing company in the mid-2000s so they could start print publications directed at for-profit education corporations. Professional titles were altered, duties were shifted and toes were stepped on until they were bloody nubs.
Change is tough for professionals who are accustomed to certain game plans. This was much more evident to me after the small marketing agency I contributed to called SPIDERtel merged with In10sity Interactive. In10sity was different; they were hungry and they demanded results. The economy in 2010 was tough, yet every industry report published spoke of rising spending ceilings for online marketing; confusing, but invigorating to agencies willing to put in the hours. In10sity was game. I took the plunge.
In10sity's business model was based on their content management system, InPower 2.0. The back end resembled your regular WordPress interface, with much more versatility. They were also dedicated to search engine marketing, mobile apps, digital marketing tools and paid placement. My duties at SPIDERtel became much more diverse once the In10sity client stable demanded a new level of performance. At In10sity, I continued to develop SEO strategies, but was able to get back to duties more attuned to creative writing and on-page SEO. We had a broad range of clients and an intimidating workload. My duties there lasted until late summer 2011.
So, to recap-
This is what I learned:
- SEO
- PPC
- Google AdSense
- Content management systems
- On-page optimization
- Corporate mergers are tough
- Long hours
Around 2004, PlattForm Advertising figured they had better learn the real deal about optimizing their corporate and full-service client sites. There was much to be gained from providing SEO and PPC to private education corporations looking to boost profits and leads, while minimizing advertising costs. They hired a small, but talented firm from Overland Park, KS called SPIDERtel.
SPIDERtel had been on the ground with search engine optimization since the early years and they understood the importance of White Hat SEO. PlattForm got caught early on bending rules of search engine marketing which got them behind in the game, so they re-focused their business model by hiring the consulting firm and regained their profit margin by doing so.
By 2010, the assembly line structure of PlattForm's marketing initiatives had put a stale taste in my mouth and I wanted to add another skill set based around a more diverse client list. SEO was less creative, but it was something that made sense to learn. SPIDERtel made an offer and I took it. They were a small agency with some big clients and even bigger budgets. I dove in.
What I learned early on was that the fields of SEO and social media had a lot of talking heads which made for a loud noise floor. Everyone had advice, but it was tough to align yourself with people who were able to prove results. SPIDERtel was pretty good at getting results.
This was also my introduction to social media as an actual service package, rather than as something to annoy friends with after working hours. I learned that social media can be more about client and customer engagement than simply another medium to broadcast an agency's activity. I also learned that there are a lot of talented people in Kansas City that know how to make social media compelling and profitable.
In late 2010, mere months after I injected myself into SEO and PPC campaigns, SPIDERtel merged with an agency out of Knoxville that had big ideas and a lot of raw talent to move things into overdrive. They were called In10sity Interactive.
So to recap-
What I learned:
- SEO
- PPC
- Google AdSense
- Local business listings
- Link building
- Social media
- Client Service
- Corporate merger logistics
- Long hours
The market crash of 2001 taught me a lot. It taught me that even though I had come a long way since my move to internet marketing, things could go horribly wrong at any moment. It didn't matter if you created great content, nor if your company was "cool." Things fall apart.
So in 2003, I went to interview at a rising agency in the Kansas City area who were doing gangbusters with an online affiliate network. They were called PlattForm and they were soon to be one of the largest privately-owned agencies in the country. On my first day of hire, PlattForm employed 83 people. By the time I left 7 years later, they had grown to over 300 (and they're still growing).
The early '00s were an exciting time for internet marketers who were beginning to understand the implications of Google, both as a business partner and a utility. So while my initial years at PlattForm were focused on creating content for the affiliate structure they had in place, my team also began aligning with new teams focused on search engine optimization and paid placement campaigns. The combined efforts of my content creation team and the SEO and PPC teams allowed PlattForm profits to balloon in a quick, violent lurch of productivity and exposure. Private education became big business online, leaving state-funded institutions in the dust as far as technology and enrollment until well into the mid-2000s.
To this day, PlattForm remains the biggest player in the marketing of private education institutions and continues to develop innovative revenue streams and profitable verticals in related industries.
So to recap -
What I learned:
- Direct marketing skills
- On-page SEO strategies
- Search marketing skills
- Team management
- Niche marketing
- Email marketing
- Creative services
- Client relations
- Feature writing
- Statistical research
- Social media
- Affiliate marketing
- Video scripting
So since Hallmark had taught me a very valuable lesson on why content management systems mean a LOT when it comes to user and manager experience on the Web, I found myself in demand.
Hallmark used the Broadvision content management system that was very expensive and kind of buggy, to say the least. Companies who bought the CMS needed people who weren't intimidated by this multi-thousand dollar behemoth on their network. So late in 2000, I received an email asking me if I would come down and interview at a small start up in Florida who had some ambitious plans and some interesting technology in mind for a product database and shopping portal.
Barpoint Technologies of Fort Lauderdale devised a Palm Pilot model that had a built-in barcode scanner that allowed users to do quick comparison shopping in stores coupled with an online database of sellers. You walk up to a product on the shelf, you scan the 10 digit product barcode and the Palm Pilot would launch an app (yep, a mobile app) that would tell you more about it and other vendors online and near the store who were selling it cheaper. It was way ahead of its time. So much so, that barely anyone used it.
I was called in to be a content creator for the shopping portal. I would write review articles linked to products that users could opt to read, and then click through to purchase based on what I wrote. There were thousands of products in our database. We barely made a dent in the shopping experience, but that didn't change the fact that people could still find better deals through this app and help themselves be better informed shoppers.
The last thing we did was create an online app that allowed people to scan barcodes of CDs and our site would upload sound files directly to the Palm Pilot so they could hear what they were buying. iTunes didn't launch until January of 2001, so our little tech-based outfit was slightly ahead of the curve. We just didn't have the capital. When the twin towers came down in September of that year, our funding evaporated and I returned home to Kansas City a bit jaded at the industry...for a while.
So to recap:
What I learned -
- Mobile apps
- Emerging technology
- How perilous web start-ups could be
- How long it took to drive to south Florida
In 1998, I was called in on contract to work for one of the most-recognized brands on Earth, Hallmark Cards.
My job at first was pretty simple - make sure everything looked and worked correctly on the newly-unveiled Hallmark e-commerce site.
I thought this would be easy, but Hallmark bought a, shall we say, difficult content management system called Broadvision. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and had lots of limitations, even for the time during the expansion of online shopping and surfing.
After saving the site from absolute disaster a few times, they thought it best to hire me on full time to coordinate all materials going into the property. I had just taught myself the Windows operating system a mere 10 months before, and each day presented a new challenge.
These days, I'm not sure what Hallmark builds their site with, but they most likely learned their lesson in the years after I left the company in 2000.
So to recap:
What I learned-
- MS Office Suite
- Broadvision CMS
- The importance of corporate culture
- Office politics
Corporate mergers can be difficult. It basically means that two teams of executives have to find some sort of compromise while devising a new business model, followed by a series of unsavory decisions regarding their staffs.
