Call Us 888.476.1881
We’ve all read that question and answer sites can be a great source of content ideas, but sometimes we neglect the biggest Q&A site of them all with millions of members and messages being sent everyday. Twitter of course! (more…)
As you can see from the timeline, Twitter has grown quite a bit from its inception in 2006. In the beginning, Twitter (or Twttr) was created with hopes of being able to send a text message to a group of people. And now on any given day in March, there were about 460,000 accounts created.
Over the course of five years, Twitter has been used in many ways. As a social media marketing platform, Twitter has flourished. Companies have credited increased sales to the use of Twitter, and the ways customer service has certainly changed. Journalists and news organizations have broken hard-hitting news on Twitter. Just look at the most powerful tweets of 2010: After the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Ann Curry, a reporter, used Twitter to convince the U.S. Air Force to allow a Doctors without Borders flight to land. (more…)
In this month’s edition of the Vertical Measures employee interview series, I speak with Kristi Hines about her personal blog on blogging, the key to developing a healthy Twitter following and the best surprise her husband has ever planned for her.
Michael Schwartz: First question, let’s start it out easy, what do you do here at Vertical Measures?
Kristi Hines: I do a variety of things, from link building to content marketing. I am also working on a new community marketing strategy, which will take things like blog commenting, forum posting, and so on to the next level and make it less about links and more about building stronger brand presence and authority.
Michael: You recently won our trophy for finding the top link in the month of October. Without getting into too many specifics, how did you go about obtaining this link?
Kristi: But I love specifics! In the end, this particular link was found through great search queries and a bit of old-fashioned luck. I’d like to say it was due to some intense competitor research like I usually enjoy doing, but sometimes the best links are the ones that are hiding in plain sight.
Michael: Aside from being a Vertical Measures employee, you also run Kikolani.com. Briefly describe Kikolani for us.
Kristi: Kikolani is a blog for bloggers, covering blogging tips, blog marketing, and social networking strategies.
Michael: What’s your proudest accomplishment pertaining to your blog?
Kristi: There are a lot of things that I am proud of when it comes to my blog. It’s really a tossup between having such a great community to being recognized by Social Media Examiner as one of the top social media blogs of 2010 alongside experts like Chris Brogan, Jay Baer, Amber Naslund, and Brian Clark.
Michael: You have also built up quite the voluminous following on Twitter. What’s the key to developing such a following?
Kristi: There are so many things I have done in order to build my Twitter following. I make sure to add my Twitter link everywhere I can, including on other social media profiles and guest blog author bios. I have it on my business card. I automatically follow everyone who follows me. The only people I un-follow are blatant spammers. I feel this shows that it’s not a one-way connection – people know they can interact with me anytime, both through public replies and private direct messaging, which I feel encourages even more engagement.
Michael: We always see you bringing in tennis rackets, and I hit with you one day so I know that you possess a mean backhand. Tell us about your tennis career and what you like about the game.
Kristi: I have been playing tennis for about two years. I enjoy the fact that it’s not only physical, but also mentally challenging as well. Your opponent isn’t the only thing that can beat you on the court – sometimes you can be your own worst enemy, and I have lost my share of matches just from not focusing or getting frustrated by something trivial. But my game is improving, especially considering I’m playing singles and mixed doubles at a 3.5 NTRP level with only two formal lessons under my belt.
Michael: What’s the toughest part about being a vegetarian?
Kristi: Being vegetarian isn’t that difficult for me. I went from being a fast food junkie to being vegan “cold turkey” (pardon the pun), and after over a year as a vegan, went to being just a vegetarian. Vegan is much more restrictive, especially if you like to eat out a lot. Once you’ve tried that, vegetarian living is a walk in the park.
Michael: Your husband is a ballroom dance instructor and we hear you get to compete with him. What kind of moves has he taught you on the dance floor?
Kristi: My first competition is coming up in December actually, which is pretty exciting. We have mostly focused on International Standard dances including Waltz, Tango, and Quickstep so far. We also do some Salsa and work on Latin dances since those come in handy at the dance parties and social events at his dance studio in Scottsdale.
Michael: You are always telling us about fantastic surprises your husband is planning for you. What was your favorite?
Kristi: Our engagement is always going to be my favorite. We had only known each other about 21 days, and I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect birthday surprise than him planning out an amazing day which ended with him taking me to the spot of our first date and proposing!
Michael: Finally, why do you like working at Vertical Measures?
Kristi: It’s great to work with people who are not only experts in the industry, but also energetic, enthusiastic, and helpful. Also, Vertical Measures really practices what they preach – we not only help clients with social media and other Internet marketing strategies, but we implement the same strategies for ourselves.
In this week’s edition of the Vertical Measures employee interview series, I sit down with Abby Gilmore to discuss how she used social media to land her job at VM, her love of classic rock, Super Bowl XXXVIII and anniversary skydiving.
Michael Schwartz: There’s only one way to start this interview. You are the only Vertical Measures intern to become a full-time employee, and you did it in not much more than a month. What was the key to your quick promotion?
Abby Gilmore: When I was hired as an intern after graduating from ASU in May, I was very eager to learn the ins and outs of the Internet marketing industry. I knew a bit about the industry through previous endeavors and my own curiosity, but not much. As soon as I started, I immersed myself in all things Internet marketing and volunteered to help with any project I could. As a result, I was able to learn from each department and member of the Vertical Measures team. I was involved in it all, from link building and SEO to content marketing and promotions. I worked really hard, and it paid off!
Michael: You won the Vertical Measures “Ode to SEO” poetry contest with your creative piece, “Social Media Overload.” You have also written about how social media helped you get this job. Why did you feel so strongly about going the social route to a job and how can other recent graduates replicate your results?
Abby: I love interacting on social sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for a few reasons. I live 3,000 miles away from home, so it is nice to keep in touch with family and friends back east. Also, I have connected with many people in the industry through social media, which led me to my job here at VM. I started following Content Strategist Elise Redlin-Cook on Twitter and eventually met her at an AZIMA event. I then found out about the “Ode to SEO” contest through her Twitter, and eventually found out about VM’s internship program through Twitter as well.
So many businesses post jobs on social media sites nowadays, job seekers are missing out if they are not checking Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for opportunities. Also, there are many recruiters actively searching social media sites for candidates. My advice to recent graduates looking for a job would be to build a professional presence on social media sites, connect with locals in your industry and search, search, search!
Michael: You studied journalism with an emphasis in public relations at ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism. How has that background helped you in the Internet marketing field?
Abby: At the Cronkite School I learned how to be a great writer by bringing color and splendor to each and every piece I write, no matter the subject matter. I think that carries over into many fields, not just journalism. This has proven to be true, as now in the Internet marketing field I find myself writing every single day. Whether it is a blog post, link request, content piece or promotional copy, I am using the writing skills I developed at Cronkite on a daily basis.
Michael: As one of our two resident Bostonians in the office, you have a love of all things Boston sports, Tom Brady and Rajon Rondo in particular. Same question I asked David. What’s the greatest Boston sports moment of the past decade?
Abby: Though I love the Red Sox and Celtics with all my heart, the greatest Boston sports moment for me was when the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers, though for more personal reasons. In 2003 my little sister, Olivia (who was 11 at the time), was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments for months and was in and out of the hospital constantly. It was a really hard time in my life, though it brought my family even closer together.
I remember spending that Super Bowl with my family, cheering on the Patriots and Tom Brady <3 as usual, and then going absolutely nuts when they won. But the best part was being able to go to the Patriots parade in Boston a few days after the big win. Olivia was nearing the end of her treatments and was well enough to go to the parade with my other sister, Alex, my dad and I. It was one of the first times I realized that Olivia really was going to be okay, and she is… cancer free to this day! It was just a great few days with my family, and of course, the Pats pulled out the win…so it was awesome!
Michael: You recently celebrated your one-year anniversary with your boyfriend Keegan. To commemorate that you jumped out of a plane. Am I crazy for thinking you’re crazy for doing that?
Abby: Hahah! Keegan and I agreed that we would rather make another unforgettable memory together instead of getting each other gifts to celebrate our first year of dating. And let me tell you, it was incredible! It was nothing that can be explained in words… so I suggest everyone trying it for themselves! It is truly worth the money and the hype. I had a blast and can’t wait to go skydiving again!
Michael: When you first started working at Vertical Measures a quote on your Facebook profile exclaimed: “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” How well does Keegan’s weirdness match up with your weirdness?
Abby: You know, I will probably always get teased for having that quote publicly displayed on my Facebook page, but I don’t care! Keegan and I are just very compatible. I stress about pretty much everything in my life and he is extremely laid back. He makes me worry less about the things I shouldn’t stress about and thinks my idiosyncrasies are cute, so I’m super lucky. What can I say, I love him!
Michael: Music is a major part of your life. You have religiously followed Phish around the country and seem to include them in every third tweet. What about Phish resonates with you so much?
Abby: Well, I grew up listening to classic rock, specifically the Grateful Dead. My parents and I used to make tie-dye T-shirts and sell them at concerts. The cultural aspect of Grateful Dead shows is what made them so fun (along with the great music, of course), and Phish shows have that same sort of community element. My parents never really got into Phish, until now! Also, I love Twitter, and lucky for me, Phish has a large Twitter following. I talk to “phans” around the world daily and have met quite a few of them at shows or tweet-ups, which has made the music experience even better for me.
Michael: In your free time you write for the local environmental magazine Green Living AZ. What’s your favorite story that you’ve written for the publication?
Abby: Hmm, that is a tough question! My favorite piece is titled, “You Sit You Die.” Sounds pretty intense, huh? It’s about how living a sedentary lifestyle or just sitting down for eight hours a day can shorten your lifespan. I found this fascinating, as I am working behind a computer for at least eight hours a day. It opened my eyes to ways I can get my metabolism pumping throughout the work day.
Michael: This is your sixth month at Vertical Measures, and in that time you’ve delved into everything from link building to social media to link worthy content creation. What attracts you to the Internet marketing field?
Abby: Yes, I am fortunate in that I have been able to work with so many aspects of Internet marketing in just six months. To be honest, I love all of it. Social media is something that I love personally and I am fascinated with how it is used in marketing. Also, I love the content creation portion of my position, because it allows me to be creative and usually involves a bit of research and writing, which I also really enjoy. The Internet marketing industry is attractive to me in general because I feel it is what is happening now and it is the future of marketing. Also, since the industry changes literally every day, it keeps me on my toes and I am continuously learning.
Michael: And finally what do you like most about working at Vertical Measures?
Abby: I like the work environment at Vertical Measures in that I can ask others for help when I need it and I am surrounded by such knowledgeable people. I look up to my colleagues and know some are the best in the industry, and being able to learn from the best is always a good thing!
In the Internet marketing business, we are all culprits of using industry jargon. But what does the average person know about the lingo we use every day? About as much as we know about chrometophobia. To be sure, we canvased the streets of Scottsdale to find out first hand what the average Arizona resident knows about Internet marketing terminology.
Definitions
SEO: An acronym for search engine optimization, which is an arrangement of techniques used to enhance a website’s rankings in search engines’ natural search results.
Link Building: The practice of obtaining links from quality sites that point to your website.
Twitter: A microblogging network that permits users to send and read messages up to 140 characters.
