SEO & PPC Career Volitility
Posted by Al Scillitani on March 26, 2008 – 9:56 amAdvice for online marketing careers. In the last 15 years, I have worked for a huge worldwide corporation, a worldwide franchise, for myself, consulted, two seo/ppc agencies, and companies as their “in-house” internet marketing manager. In all of those years, my main advice to anyone in that wants to stay in this industry is: you have to have multiple streams of income!
That’s right. The main advice has nothing to do with seo, ppc, internet, online marketing, social media, or any of that. It has to do with the volatility of online marketing jobs. One of the agencies I worked for was one of the largest in the world. They had 100’s of seo accounts, 100’s of ppc accounts, over 100 employees and it was a great place to work. After being established for several years, they went public, got greedy, and within 12 months of going public they fell apart. Another agency I worked for was great. It had some of the best online marketing talent and was run very well. One day the CEO of the holding company decided he wanted to push out our company CEO and all hell broke loose. The other exec’s started to leave and the other employees left as well.
I have definitely learned in this industry (and a few others as well), that things can change in an instant. Everything could be going great for several months, then poof it’s all over. Your great, exciting, and fun job is no more.
If you do not have side affiliate, consulting, or other part time work you should for 2 reasons
1. Gives you extra income while you are working and
2. Gives yourself some money in case something happens to your current job
If you know you should start these other streams of income, but keep putting it off, my recommendation would be to immediately schedule 30 minutes to an hour everyday and get started. Go to meetups to network, learn about affiliate marketing, adsense, paid search, social media, blogging, podcasts, etc… Not only will this help you in your current job, but help you with possible side jobs as well.
I love online marketing for many reasons, but if I did not have mutliple streams of income, I would be forced to look elsewhere.
6 Responses to “SEO & PPC Career Volitility”
I agree completely, this industry is exciting because its ever-changing and evolving but it’s for that very reason that you have to be as quickly adaptble to ensure you stay afloat.
By Shane: content writer on Mar 26, 2008
Thanks for the tips, always handy to know.
By Angela on Mar 26, 2008
This could happen in any industry…poor management, economy, etc…all can lead to you being out on the street.
I have a few things going on the side, but I really hope my current gig does not end.
What types of side stuff do you recommend?
By Dan on Mar 27, 2008
Dan,
I would recommend consulting or doing “side” seo tasks. Many companies need one-offs to help with why their site isn’t ranking, linking, copy, etc…
Also, learn about affiliate marketing and test. Most do not make much, but if you figure out a way even to make a few hundred dollars a month off it, it would be worth it. BTW- once you figure out how to make a few hundred off affiliate marketing, then add more and more sites. Next thing you know you have several sites making a few hundred/thousands each.
By Al Scillitani on Mar 27, 2008
Great advice, Al. Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree completely with the importance of having business income/side projects.
It’s disturbing to see how quickly some companies fail. Good example is GeoSign which was recently featured in TechCrunch. According to news reports, GeoSign burned through $160 million (VC funds) with an elaborate click arbitrage business model! In a few short weeks, the company went from hugely profitable to hugely unprofitable due to changes @ Google (crackdown on MFA sites and arbitrageurs, smart pricing). I wonder how many employees saw the crash coming, and had a backup plan. http://tinyurl.com/2uhsmc
By Christy on Mar 27, 2008
PPC advertising is growing rapidly. If the ads prepared correct, it can strengthen your internet advertising significantly. The idea with PPC is to get people to click on your ad as a link to your website.
By henrry134 on Apr 9, 2008