I am about to start the first week of my search engine marketing (or SEM) training with Leapfrogg and off the back of this, I’ll be running a regular training diary. I thought I’d kick off with a bit of reflection, a nostalgic look at the end of my role as an account manager and consider the differences between this, and the behind the scenes clandestine world of SEO. Unlike most agencies, Leapfrogg offers it’s trainees a swim in the pond of each area of search; PPC, Social media and SEO.
Over the next few months I will be taking you on a jostling roller coaster ride through the world of SEM, covering the whole search marketing arena, from ranking reports and PPC management to writing in depth consultancy documents and baiting the glittery hook of link building. I will carve my training up into digestible chunks, in the hope that it will be of some practical use to you, our readers. For those of you in the search world, although simplistic, I hope that my posts can offer the odd beneficial fact, and for the newbie’s out there, I hope it enlightens encourages and empowers you all.
“The end of an account management era”
Last week was a bit if a tough one as I said a final farewell to my clients, and for the most part I truly believe they were sad to see me go. Not that I have exactly gone far in a physical sense, turned my chair around and have a different view of the sea from our office window to be exact. But it really hit me as I was making those calls, just how different it was going to be in my new role. As an account manager you are on the front line, the main point of contact between the client and your company. It is a very intimate role and in some cases is rather like an odd form of parenting. In some cases you may never actually meet your client; however the bond of trust is easily sustained by merely talking things over and keeping one another in the loop. Some times the connection is strained, but usually due to an implementation delay on the website, and as an account manager it is impossible not to get embroiled in the welfare of your client’s site, even if it means being a rather unpopular stalker for a few weeks.
Things I will miss about being an account manager:
- Chatting to clients
- Getting that satisfied feeling when your clients site is doing well
- Heading up consultancy meetings
- Project managing a site launch, from concept to fruition
- Getting Xmas presents from clients (you know who you are)
- My calendar looking like an extra from the Technicolor dream coat
- Having to look at Christos across the desk all day (Joke)
- Not having enough time in the day (this is optimistic)
- Attend at least one meeting dressing as a giant frog
- Hold a conference call from the beach (frog costume optional)
So that is it, I am no longer an account manager and will be starting my training in a matter of minutes. My first post will be next Monday and will be on the subject of “How to write meta tags”, so I hope you join me in the class room then for a less emotive, more instructive post.
Bradgelina clip is from Google images