This week we had the pleasure of interviewing both Ken Walker and Victoria Edwards of Linkshare. Victoria works at Linkshare as an SEO/Internet Marketing Specialist and Ken is the Web Producer and Dean of LinkShare University.
How did both of you get started in the Internet Marketing industry?
Ken: I bought a book on HTML 1.0 for $14 in 1995. With it I co-founded a website development company out of my apartment. We started partnering with several advertising agencies, becoming their outsourced web team. We started adding SEO and other marketing services and within a few years grew to become one of the premier Internet Marketing firms in the Tampa Bay area and serviced both top national and international companies. I came to LinkShare through a chain of acquisitions.
Victoria: In 2006 I was hired by a custom fixture company to assist with their marketing efforts. Realizing they had a website, but no real valuable content or ease of navigation, I decided to take it upon myself and redesign the site. Not knowing how to redesign a site, I began doing research and stumbled across HubSpot, which had a great CMS which was easy for the non coder to work with. I redesigned the site and through HubSpot’s methodology, began learning SEO and social media.
Realizing SEO and especially social media was my passion; I began researching it on my own after work hours. Knowing I needed to be in the industry in order to learn more and to succeed with what I loved to do, I found LinkShare, one of few companies in Tampa who had Internet Marketing as a position.
What are the benefits of using an agency for Internet Marketing, versus doing it in-house?
Ken: Agencies build teams with advanced skills and specific expertise. They can leverage these teams for clients who often do not have the resources to build them in-house.
I’ve always believed companies should focus on their core competencies. Their marketing departments should be looking at crafting and maintaining the company brand and maximizing their customer’s positive experience with that brand. By leveraging the expertise of outside agencies to assist in strategy and implementation, they get the benefit of advanced industry experiences while still focusing on the customer.
For example, when we work with companies in areas such as social media, we provide the strategy, guidance and expertise but we always involve the company in the implementation. Social media requires ongoing customer contact. I believe it’s important for companies to maintain ownership of that customer interaction. It’s the single most important thing any company can do.
Victoria: Hiring an agency will be of great benefit because SEO and Social Media require a lot of time and effort. While agencies should not be the voice of the company they’re working for, they should be able to provide the appropriate key performance indicators and education. Being in the Internet Marketing indu ...