It’s true: Due to a reorganization at Marchex, my position was eliminated. Yesterday was my last day. It was a great 18 months, and I was fortunate to work with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. To compare where my career was 18 months ago to where it is now … it boggles the mind. Night and day. I’ve been blessed.

Perhaps someday down the road I’ll look back in more depth, but this post is about looking forward (and helping another search marketer with a career question).

What’s Next?

That’s the million dollar question. Should I start my own SEO consulting business? Should I go to work for another search marketing company? Should I apply to be the overnight janitor at Pixar? Should I take some time off? I’ve had very close, trusted friends suggesting all of those things to me this week. (Except the Pixar one; that was all my idea.)

Here’s What I Know

I’m going to take a couple weeks before making any decisions. I have some personal travel coming up soon and will be away from a computer for about a week. (Quelle horreur!) Might as well use that down time wisely.

I’m open to job offers from high-quality search marketing agencies or search-related companies. I love SEO, social marketing, local search, blog consulting, writing, training, and things like that. I’ve successfully managed client accounts and employees. I’m not a PPC guy, so count me out if that’s what you need. If you have a job that involves sales, I’m not your guy. (I’m a terrible sales person.) Also, and this is really important, if your job requires me to move the family, I’m not your guy. (Relocation is not an option, sorry.) If you’re a great company with an opening that might fit, send me an email.

I’m open to opportunities to do some freelance SEO consulting/training. Need some help via email or the phone? Need a site review, or some questions answered? Want me to come visit and train you and/or your team? Get in touch.

I’m open to accepting advertising on this blog. A guy’s gotta pay the bills while figuring out what’s next, and it would be pretty easy to change out those 125×125 speaking gig graphics on the right to advertisements. Your ad link will be no-followed. It will also be seen about 20,000 times per month - that’s my average pageviews since the start of 2008. Email me for rates. (One more change: When I get back online after this little break, I’m going to take down the registration wall on this blog and have open comments.)

If you have something to say or share that doesn’t involve job or consulting opportunities, but just want to offer some advice or words of wisdom, go ahead and hit one of those links above and get in touch. I’d love to hear from you! Meanwhile, if I’m going to ask for SEO Career Advice, I should be kind enough to share some, too, don’t you think?

From the SBS Mailbag

Ironically, the SBS Mailbag this week included a note from Josh, who’s having some career issues of his own:

I am fairly new to the industry. I have attended an SES and an e-Metrics. I keep up with about 60 SEM/online marketing blogs and I just recently began my own blog. Recently I interviewed for a search account manager at [company name redacted] and am interviewing this week with [company name redacted]. [The first company] felt that I was too inexperienced for the position, but gave me a whole new perspective on interview processes. Any advice you have for me would be much appreciated.

Josh, here are some thoughts based on my experience:

1.) Keep blogging. Regularly. Blogs are the new resumés. It’s an ongoing record of who you are and what you know. Blogging also makes you smarter, because it forces you to clarify and explain strategies and tactics that you use. Make sure you’re reading Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, and Dosh Dosh to learn to be a better blogger, and a better blog marketer. Last year’s SEMMY Blogging nominees list is also great reading.

2.) Speaking of reading, do it. A lot. I think you have to spend at least an hour a day following the industry’s trusted writers. And don’t just read; test the strategies and tactics you read about. Draw your own conclusions.

3.) Network with your peers via their blogs. Dropping me an email was a great start. If you’re not doing this already, start joining the conversations on other search marketing blogs. Get your name out there. Include your URL. As people read intelligent comments from you, you’ll get a trickle of click-thrus to your blog. Make it easy for them to find your best content and subscribe to your feed.

4.) Create “flagship” content on your blog. You’ll want to develop great content that will define you and your blog. Chris Garrett wrote about this a while back, and it still stands. In the summer of 2006, I wrote the Local Search Marketing Guide, emailed some new contacts about it, and Rand wrote about it on SEOmoz. (Others followed suit.) This blog has been on the map ever since.

5.) Continue to attend search marketing conferences when possible. Do it for the networking and learning. Whether it’s SBMU, SMX, SES, Pubcon or something else, conferences are another great way to network with your peers. Introduce yourself to people. Don’t be shy.

6.) Get on Twitter, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Facebook, etc. More great ways to meet and chat with your peers.

7.) Get active on a marketing/search forum. More networking & learning. It’ll take time to develop, but the best job strategy I can think of is to have a network of peers/friends who want to help you along in your career by pointing you toward open positions, by giving you recommendations on Linked In or elsewhere, and so forth. Todd Malicoat kicked me into gear two years ago on the importance of networking, and trust me — this week was much easier thanks to great industry friends.

8.) Keep interviewing. You hinted at this in your question, and it’s true: the more you interview, the better you get at interviewing.

9.) Volunteer to help a local non-profit or small business. It looks like you have a job already, so I’ll put it at the end of the list. But if I were new to the industry and needed some work to put on my resumé, I’d take this route. There’s no better teacher than experience, and you have to get experience somehow.

Josh, I hope this helps. Readers, what advice would you share with Josh?

(Josh asked me not to share his last name. And because he’s looking for work, I won’t reveal his identity by linking to his blog.)

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

SEO Career Advice from an Out-of-Work SEO

Twittering for Charity

It’s no secret that I’ve been trying to be the last person on Twitter for some time now. You may also know that Jeff Quipp (of the Toronto-based agency Search Engine People) was also not on Twitter, and has been challenging me to see who could last the longest without joining.

Well, we’ve put out heads together and have decided to sign up, and raise some money in the process. Here’s the scoop:

1. We’re both putting up $250 for a total of $500 on the line.
2. We’ve both chosen a charity that we like and want to support.
3. We’ve both (finally) signed up for Twitter.
4. Whoever gets 500 followers first is the winner, and all $500 will be donated to that person’s charity.

So, please follow me and help me win while supporting a good cause!!!

My Charity: African Well Fund

It’s not right that there are legions of people in Africa who don’t have access to clean water — something I can walk into my kitchen and get in unlimited supplies. In parts of Africa, people have to walk miles to find a water source, and when they do, that water source is often shared with animals. They bring the water home and have to let it sit so that the waste and dirt separates, and it’s still not as clean as what we take for granted everyday.

The African Well Fund is trying to make this right by bringing clean water to parts of Africa where it doesn’t exist. Building wells saves lives and is relatively inexpensive — to the point that individuals donations really do make a difference. In fact, since forming in 2002, the AWF has helped bring water to 121 sites serving more than 113,000 people. Every dollar donated goes to build wells; none is used for overhead.

If you’d like to learn more, here’s a short video (less than 2 minutes) that explains what the AWF does.

Call to Action!

Click here to follow me on Twitter!

Whether you’re doing it for the charity angle, or just because you want to follow me on Twitter, I thank you in advance for your support. If you want to follow Jeff, too, that’s cool. It’s money for a good cause, either way.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

Twittering for Charity: Follow Me

Congrats to Taylor Pratt of Gonzo SEO for a dominating performance — no one else passed 100 points, and Taylor outscored Eric Lander (2nd place) by 14 points for the title. In other words, he crushed us all.

Yours truly finished an embarrassing 13th (out of 16 active contestants), which is probably about what I deserve after ignoring college basketball all year long. Here are the full, final standings. I’ll be back in 2009 to reclaim my title.

Congrats, Taylor!

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

March Madness SEO Contest goes Gonzo

Teams and brackets will be announced on Sunday, when I will likely be in an airplane headed for New York. So, I’ve set up a Tournament Pick-Em group a few days early — you can sign-up now and then choose your winners next week. We had about 40 people in the contest last year, and I’m guessing we’ll end up with more this time out.

Here’s what you need to know:

What’s it cost? Nada. Free. All you need is a Yahoo account.

What’s at stake? Links! Winner gets the links. No money is changing hands. No paid links.

Where do I join? Start here, and use the info. below to find the “SEO Madness” group.

Group ID: 49489

Group password: nofollow

Is David Mihm allowed to play? Yes, even though he runs the amazing NCAA tournament predictions site, Bracketography, and has more phat knowledge than the rest of us combined, we’ll be happy to have DM in the contest. (No pressure on him, or anything like that.)

That’s all! Get yourself signed into the SEO Madness group and may the best man/woman win!

* Actually, I have no chance this year. I’ve only watched one game from start to finish all season long.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

Game On: March Madness contest for SEO/PPC folks

1.) Create an account at Blogged.com, and then
2.) Review Small Business SEM there.

You can also feel free to add me as a friend if you’re so inclined.

While we’re at it here are some other ways to connect with me and/or this blog:

1) Subscribe to the SBS feed.

2) Add SBS to your Technorati favorites.

3) Register with SBS and leave a comment on a favorite post.

4) Add a review of SBS on StumbleUpon.

5) Make a connection with me on Flickr, Yahoo Answers or LinkedIn. (matt-at-smallbusinesssem.com) (Note: I only accept Facebook friend requests from people I’ve met in person.)

6) Follow me on Mixx or maybe friend me on digg.

7) Check out my personal blog, MattMcGee.com, and subscribe to the feed.

That’s all - thanks!

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

How to Connect with SBS / Matt McGee

Late last night I finished writing U2 - A Diary and sent it off to the editor at Omnibus Press. The publisher has done and will do a small amount of book promotion, but I want to do more. With my U2 site, I have a large, built-in audience. I also have friends around the world who have their own U2 sites. Reaching the dedicated, online U2 fan shouldn’t be a problem.

But what about reaching the casual U2 fan? Or the dedicated book-lover who’s curious about U2? Those are the people I want to reach. If you’re aware of any music-related or book-related social communities, bookmarking sites, etc., please speak up in the comments. I’m also curious about timing. Should I even bother about marketing right now? It’s so early in the process; we don’t even know what the cover will look like. If you have any thoughts/ideas/experiences that would help, I’m all ears.

Thanks. And sorry for the off-topic/personal post.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

How to Market a Book?

The position listed is “Search Engine Optimization Manager.” Yes, that’s my title. No, I’m not leaving. You can read more about the opportunity by going to our open positions search form. Just click the SEARCH button and look for the listing — the listing date is today, November 28.

Of particular note is this at the bottom of the listing: Telecommute option available.

There’s a lot of HR-speak in there, so if anyone has questions feel free to contact me directly and I’ll do my best to help.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming!

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

Public Service Announcement: We’re Hiring

This is what the dinner table looked like for Thanksgiving 2006. It’ll look about the same tomorrow, and I can’t wait. Once we start eating, our Thanksgiving tradition includes the four of us (we have two kids) going one at a time through the alphabet, naming something we’re thankful for with whatever letter we’re on. So, if I start with the letter “A”, my daughter will have to say something she’s thankful for that starts with “B”, and so on.

Kinda cheesy, maybe, but it’s what you do when you’re a parent. Plus, it gives me an excuse to give one of the kids a hard time if they get the letter “D” and don’t say “Dad!” (hehehe)

If you’re in the U.S., or celebrating Thanksgiving outside the U.S. for whatever reason, I hope it’s a good one. Lots to be thankful for at Casa McGee. Always is….

Back to blogging next week, I would imagine.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

This is a test - please ignore

I’ve decided tonight was “Unofficial Search Marketing Night at Safeco Field.” There was a bunch of us from Marchex enjoying a pre-game BBQ and then watching a terrific game, made all the better by the Mariners beating the much-hated Red Sox 8-7. Woot!

And at the game, I bumped into none other than Rand and fiancée Geraldine from SEOmoz, along with Jonathan Mendez and friend/co-worker Peter (didn’t get his last name!) from OTTO Digital. Cool beans! (All we needed was Vanessa Fox, Tom Schmitz, and John Andrews, and I think we would’ve had a quorum.)

Blogging will pick up soon here on SBS. Rand will surely show me up by doing one of his patented 1:30 a.m. mega-posts, but I’m gonna read a bit and call it a night…….

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business SEM.

Night Off for the Seattle Search Bloggers