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Archive for the 'Interviews with cool people' category

Here come the girls: An interview with Julie Hall of Women Unlimited

8th
Sep
by Sarah Turner

A few weeks ago, I managed to squeeze in a quick lunch with the very busy Julie Hall of Springmedia and Women Unlimited. (Yes, she really does run two companies. And a family. She’s, like, Superwoman!) Over a jacket potato we discussed positive discrimination (we disagreed), the UK versus the North American work ethic, and the tools she uses to help her run her two businesses.

Turner Ink: Not only do you run Springmedia, a successful web design company, you’re also the founder of Women Unlimited, an online networking group aimed at business women. How did that come about?
Julie Hall: I created Women Unlimited in 2008 to be the kind of community and network I wished I’d had when I started my own business back in 2000.

Only 15% of small businesses have women owners. And given that we are 48% of the workforce, I figured there needed to be a place that encouraged women into entrepreneurship and helped them to succeed.

TI: Why did you want a women’s group? Do you think women have different business needs?
JH: No, I don’t think that women have different business needs. But many of them do lack confidence and business experience. So we aim to fill in the gaps and show them what’s possible.

TI: So how does Women Unlimited help women in business?
JH: Well, we offer practical advice and support via daily articles and blog posts, and the social networking groups. And of course we run events and workshops, which give women the skills they need.

The LinkedIn Group has been a great surprise to me, because it’s turned into a very supportive place for women to ask questions and connect with each other.

TI: Are women more supportive of each other in business then or is that just a myth?
JH: That’s an interesting question. I think it depends on the person. I’m a girls’ girl. I love women and talking with them and finding out what they’re doing. Women Unlimited’s events have a great reputation for being really inspiring and fun. One woman, called it a ‘spa for my mind’.

TI: I attended a WU event last year. The speakers were fantastic. It was an inspiring afternoon
JH: Yes, the events are workshops are well attended and very popular. We run a few big events on and around International Women’s Day (March 2011) and we run specialist events for different types of businesses. We’ve just completed one for the food industry.

TI: So what are Women Unlimited’s plans for the future?
JH: We’re launching a membership area and taking our training courses and events to other cities in the UK.

TI: Ok, I’m going to ask it – what are your thoughts on positive discrimination?
JH: [Laughing] You know this is one of my soapbox speeches! I’m in favour of positive discrimination because without it, change will take 50 years. I think what’s going on in France and Norway is a great example of how to do it. However, I think culturally in the UK it won’t be possible to bring positive discrimination in because there’s so much resistance to the idea.

TI: As a Canadian, do you think British women work differently?
JH: You’ll probably hate this, but North Americans definitely work harder than their UK counterparts. The whole work-life balance thing is just not something that they stress about in the same way we do here. They have less holidays and work longer hours. Though, I’m not saying that’s better. And even though we scorn the personal development culture that they have in North America, they are much more success oriented and less prone to let fear stand in their way.

TI: So who or what has been your greatest influence in business and why?
JH: A guy by the name of Peter Massey. He was my first boss in the UK and gave me my first break. He also taught me that sometimes lack of knowledge about something can create innovation and shouldn’t hold you back from trying something out.

TI: What other business women have inspired you?
JH: I’m inspired by all the business women that I meet. They all have their own visions, passions and ideas that they want to share with the world. I’m very lucky in that many successful women have supported what we’re doing by speaking at our events; people like Camila Batmangelidgh, founder of the Kids’ Company, Claire Burnet, founder of Chococo and Polly Gowers, the founder of Everyclick.

TI: How can other women succeed online?
JH: I recommend that everyone has a clear business model before they start. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet. The best advice I would have is to find a product that people want to buy, be very clear on your differentiation, make sure that you have a way of connecting with your target market and just do it.

TI: What are your favourite business books?
JH: I have shelves and shelves of business books. Some of my favourites are The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber and From Acorns by Caspian Wood.

TI: What would you say is your greatest professional accomplishment to date?
JH: Hmm, I’m not very good at this kind of question… but I was absolutely thrilled at pulling off a conference with 250 women back in March.

TI: What’s the best advice you have received that you’d like to pass on?
JH: Don’t do it all yourself. Build a strong team around you. Do the things that you are good at and bring in exceptional people to fill in the gaps. Your team should include mentors, advisers and team members who can each bring you one step closer to your goal

TI: That’s great advice Julie. Finally, are there any resources or tools you’d like to share with other small business owners that have helped you run your business?
JH: So many tools! I’d recommend WordPress, Go To Webinar for teleseminars, Tungle.me for scheduling, someone just shared Echosign with me for online contracts, Eventbrite for organising events, Conference Genie for free conference calling, and the British Library BIPC for research and events.

Julie Hall - Women UnlimitedJulie Hall is the MD of Springmedia which specialises in web design and development, logo design, email newsletter creation, blogging customisation, web consultancy and social media strategy.

She is also CEO of Women Unlimited an online community for female entrepreneurs.

Connect with Julie on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

 

 

 

 


Tags: julie hall, linkedin, networking, Social media, springmedia, web designer, women unlimited
Posted in Interviews with cool people | comments icon 1 Comment »

Let’s get digital. An interview with Matt Sawyer of Datadial

22nd
Jul
by Sarah Turner

This month, I’ve managed to grab a few moments with digital marketing expert Matt Sawyer (who was one of the first industry bods I ever followed on Twitter). Matt heads up the online marketing department over at digital agency Datadial. We talked about link campaigns, the best blogs to read and why is the SEO industry coming in for some flak?

Turner Ink: You’ve been head of SEO and digital marketing at Datadial for five years now Matt. What’s changed in the industry since you joined?
Matt Sawyer: Everything and nothing. I see a lot of talk about how SEO is constantly changing, but really the fundamentals have remained the same – good content in a well organised and well structured website.

Social media has really changed link development though, and it’s forced SEOs to think a lot more creatively about who will link to them and why.

TI: So where is the SEO industry heading? What’s it going to look like in 5 years’ time?
MS: I think we’re going to be a lot more integrated with other marketing disciplines. To a lot of people we’re always the geeks in the room at the end of the corridor that nobody really understands. I think the industry itself is partly to blame for that.

Over the last couple of years though, SEOs have become far more closely integrated with development, sales, marketing and editorial teams and we’re doing a much better job of educating people, not just on what we do and why we do it, but also how it complements their roles.

TI: That’s interesting. Because there’s been a bit of SEO bashing online lately. (This is the post that springs to mind.) What are your thoughts?
MS: I completely understand why people feel that way when so many people have had bad experiences with SEOs. I think there is a real knowledge gap between the marketing managers and SMB owners that are buying-in the services and the companies that are selling them. Unfortunately, this either leads to companies taking advantage of this, or services being mis-sold.

TI: Ok Matt, how do you execute an SEO strategy? What do you do specifically?
MS: Generally for us it falls into four distinct stages:
1. Site architecture – ensuring the site is technically correct. Everything from making sure all the pages are reachable by search engines, to checking for duplicate content issues.
2. Site structure – checking that the site is organised logically, with relevant category pages.
3. Keyword research and page optimisation.
4. Link building and social media strategy.

TI: Yes, links are a major factor in the success of a site’s SERPS positioning aren’t they? How easy or difficult is it to get quality links?
MS: Links are THE biggest factor in rankings for competitive phrases. Getting good quality links is easy. Getting them in large enough quantities is harder. Social media has made the process easier and more scaleable, but you still have to rely on great ideas to make things work.

TI: I’ve locked horns with a number of so-called SEO experts who are more concerned with the mechanics of SEO and don’t give a hoot about the quality of the writing. What are your thoughts?
MS: Always write for users. There’s no point getting visitors to a page if it looks like it’s been written by a 5 year old (or me for that matter). There is no reason why a page can’t be optimised as well as written with conversions in mind.

TI: Well, I totally agree with that! What SEO tools do you use?
MS: I think most people would be surprised how few tools SEOs really use. I think there’s a misconception that we automate everything. But really the only tools we use are those that speed-up fairly menial tasks or give us more metrics to play with in Excel.

For example we use a ranking checker to monitor site rankings changes. I also use the Open Site Explorer to pull link data and site metrics into Excel. Majestic should also get an honourable mention here. I also like using Xenu which can spider an entire site, extract page metrics and export all of the data to a .csv file.

TI: Do you only optimise for Google?
MS: Realistically, yes. In the UK, especially, they have such an obscene share of the search market that they have to be the search engine that’s at the forefront of your strategy. However, most search engines work in similar ways, so you’ll find that most SEO work brings similar benefits on all search engines.

TI: But is Bing becoming more important?
MS: Slowly. I’m seeing its search share gradually start to creep up, and before long Yahoo will start to serve Bing results.

TI: What other services do you offer at Datadial?
MS: We’re a full service agency. So we do everything from design, development and hosting, through to digital marketing, email marketing and ebusiness consultancy.

TI: I know you handle online PR and reputation management for clients as well and you’ve developed an in-house reputation monitoring tool. Tell us how that works.
MS: Our reputation monitoring tool works by pulling together lots of different data sources – such as Google (news and blogs), Twitter mentions, RSS feeds and several others, which it then parses for mentions of the client name. These are then displayed in an admin control panel. A lot of similar services tend to over-complicate things, so we have tried to go the other way and keep thing as simple as possible for the user while retaining functionality.

TI: You and I are both on Twitter quite a bit. Are you finding clients want to jump on the social media bandwagon no matter what their product or service?
MS: A lot of people seem to decide that they want to do social media before they have thought about why they’re doing it and what they want to get out of it. Some companies are made for social media; others need to think about culture change before they engage in social media.

The key thing to remember is that consumers aren’t always the best group for your company to try to engage with. Often, it’s better to network online with the bloggers and journalists in your industry.

TI: Talking of bloggers – you write for the Datadial blog Matt. And, of course, you write for own blog. What topics do you cover?
MS: With the Datadial blog we write primarily for our clients, on (hopefully) interesting topics and issues that affect them and their business.

My own blog has actually been around for several years in one form or another, and I tend to use it to organise my own thoughts and rants more than anything else. I have been known to post at 3am when I have ideas that I need to get down somewhere!

TI: I hate to think what I’d blog at 3am! What other blogs do you read or recommend?
MS: The SEOMoz blog is fantastic, both for advanced SEOs and novices alike. The range of topics covered and the resources that they have available really are second to none.

Other than that I regularly read (and recommend) EConsultancy, SEOptimise, Apple Pie And Custard (who also win the prize for the strangest name), Search Engine Land, Malcolm Coles and SEO By The Sea.

TI: And last question Matt. What does a normal day look like for you?
MS: Normally I get into the office by seven. I cycle into West London from Surrey and spend around an hour reading my RSS feeds and answering emails. These days I tend to get more involved in the technical and strategic side of SEO, so that will include everything from site audits to planning structure and then organising the link and content development and social strategy. It seems I spend a lot more time at client meetings these days, so I’ll be out and about for much of the day.

TI: Thanks Matt. See you on Twitter.

 

Matt Sawyer - Head of SEO at DatadialMatt Sawyer is head of SEO and digital marketing at London-based digital agency Datadial and is considered one of the most influential SEOs in the UK.

He works with a wide range of clients and industries: from internationally recognized businesses to small, niche brands. His specialities include integrated digital marketing, SEO (on-page and off-page optimisation)

social media, digital PR, PPC, link development strategies and online marketing consulting.

On Twitter he describes himself as a social media junkie, part-time blogger, and full-time timewaster. Follow Matt on Twitter.


Tags: datadial, digital agency, matt sawyer, online PR, reputation management, seo, seo company, seo writing, Social media, twitter
Posted in Interviews with cool people | comments icon No comments yet »

Hard working words: An interview with Andy Maslen, copywriter, speaker, coach and author. Part 2

4th
Mar
by Sarah Turner

This is the second part of my interview with Andy Maslen. (Read part one here where Andy reveals the inspiration for his latest book, what he really thinks about content mills and why he proofreads his tweets.)

TI: So tell us a bit more about your background Andy. How did you get into this copywriting malarkey?
AM: I was booted out of my job as a marketing director and needed to replace my income. Since I was always sneaking off to write copy, this seemed like a good direction to go in. Copywriting was always my favourite part of the job, from when I joined that company as a marketing assistant.

TI: You’ve now been a copywriter for over 24 years. What’s been your best project in that time?
AM: Easy! The renewal series I wrote a couple of years ago for BBC Top Gear Magazine. Nothing has ever come close to writing a sales letter from Jeremy Clarkson.

TI: My best projects are where clients give me free stuff! Ok, so what’s been your most successful project?
AM: I’ve written a few control-beating DM packs over the years. Just recently, an integrated campaign we created for a b2b magazine went 30% over target. That was satisfying.

TI: So would you consider yourself a specialist or a generalist?
AM: I’m a specialist. In direct marketing copy for publishers and membership organisations. And in b2b copy. But I’ll write about virtually anything as long as it’s legal and doesn’t make my hair stand on end.

TI: Do you prefer writing direct copy over web copy then? Or do you enjoy writing any type of copy?
AM: I love it all, but if it was my last day in harness and I could choose anything to write, give me a direct mail letter for a consumer magazine.

TI: And do you have a particular time of the day you prefer to write?
AM: Yes. 8.30 am – 11.00 am and 3.00pm – 6.00pm.

TI: What’s your favourite part of the copywriting process? Do you enjoy research? Immersing yourself in someone else’s business? Or getting down to the writing?
AM: If you categorise copywriters as researchers, planners or writers, then I’m a writer. Nothing beats the pleasure of getting a sentence just right – so that any other words or structure wouldn’t be as good. But, truthfully, you can’t do that unless you’ve also figured out how to achieve the client’s objectives. I love selling too – that feeling when you’ve just closed a deal is pretty sweet.

TI: What’s the single best investment you’ve made in your copywriting career?
AM: A copy of How to Write Sales Letters That Sell by Drayton Bird. And my chair, a Haag. (Whoops, that’s two.)

TI: We’ll allow that! Any copywriting horror stories you want to share?
AM: At 38, being told to do something less than sensible in a briefing meeting by a client who justified it by saying, “I think I know what I’m talking about – I do have two years’ experience of marketing”. Me sitting there biting my tongue and reflecting that I was writing copy professionally when she was learning about verbs and nouns.

TI: Aaah yes. I was once told by a client that she didn’t think she needed a copywriter because she had an English O’ Level and could do it herself.
AM: [Laughing] Others include arguing with a client, while jetlagged, thinking, “I can win this”. Oh, and when I was still in a corporate job, I printed 30,000 copies of a catalogue with a typo – “cosnumer” instead of “consumer” – on a thumb tab. (Not that it rankles, oh no!)

TI: Is there a company you haven’t written for that you’d like to?
AM: Maybe The New Yorker (a brand of Condé Nast rather than a company). I find that the most rewarding relationships are with individuals not companies. I have certainly pursued companies only to find that the glamour of the brand name didn’t translate into, for example, prompt payment.

TI: So what’s up next? What other projects have you got in the pipeline?
AM: My next book is at the first draft stage. It’s about how to run a successful freelance copywriting business. You know about that one as you generously agreed to let me interview you for it! I’m really excited about it – I think it’s going to help a lot of people avoid the mistakes I made, save themselves a lot of time/energy and make some decent money.

I’m thinking about maybe creating some sort of copywriting inner circle where people join for an annual membership fee and get one-to-one advice, teleseminars and stuff (hmm, that doesn’t sound too businesslike does it?). Watch this space.

TI: Sounds great Andy. Lastly, how can people get in touch with you?
AM: Via our websites www.sunfish.co.uk and www.andymaslen.com. And my blog. Or email me at andy.maslen@sunfish.co.uk. You can also follow me on Twitter @andymaslen.

TI: Andy, thanks so much for your time today.
AM: My pleasure.

 

 

Andy-Maslen-copywriterAndy Maslen is an independent copywriter specialising in corporate publicity, direct marketing and subscriptions.

He has written copy for online and offline marketing campaigns for, among others, The Economist Group, Emap, the DTI, BBC Worldwide, Hamleys, The London Stock Exchange, The British Standards Institution, The Landscape Design Trust, Euromoney, Informa, Time Out, The New York Times Company and TSL Education.

Andy is a lifetime Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing and author of Write to Sell: the Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting; 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: from Leading Companies Around the World; and The Copywriting Sourcebook: How to Write Better Copy, Faster – For Everything from Ads to Websites, all published by Marshall Cavendish.


Tags: 100 great copywriting ideas, andy maslen, copywriting sourcebook, direct mail, sales letters, write to sell
Posted in Copywriting, Interviews with cool people | comments icon 1 Comment »

Hard working words: An interview with Andy Maslen, copywriter, speaker, coach and author. Part 1

3rd
Mar
by Sarah Turner

I’m a little giddy about this month’s interview. I’m delighted to be joined by copywriting expert/god/guru Andy Maslen, who’s also a well-known speaker, coach and author. During our conversation we discussed everything from Andy’s latest book and the future of copywriting to content mills and Andy’s goal-setting paperclip system!

We talked for a while. So part two of this interview is tomorrow.

Turner Ink: Hey Andy. Thanks for taking the time out to chat. I’ve just finished reading 100 Great Copywriting Ideas, which I found extremely useful. Your latest book, The Copywriting Sourcebook, has just hit the shelves. Tell us a bit about it.
Andy Maslen: Hey Sarah! Good to hear from you. The Copywriting Sourcebook came from a couple of places. One was me thinking back to my early days as a corporate marketing assistant. I had to write for loads of different formats – as I still do – from press releases and exhibition materials to direct mail letters and press ads. I guess I was lucky we didn’t have to write for the web back then – it would only have added to the stress!

Nobody could really tell me much so I spent a lot of time struggling to understand the requirements of the format itself before I could even attempt to write copy. I wanted to create a reference book that would give people lots of shortcuts – on structure, what to include, tone of voice and so on – for 12 formats from web pages to case studies. In an early attempt at coming up with a title with the publishers, we tossed around the idea of Copywriting SatNav. You plug in your destination and the book takes you there by the quickest route.

TI: So it differs quite a bit from your first book Write to Sell?
AM: Yes. In Write to Sell, I wrote a lot about the techniques and principles of good copywriting, but didn’t really give many real-world examples. Both 100 Great Copywriting Ideas and The Copywriting Sourcebook provide examples of actual working copy.

TI: So who’s the Sourcebook aimed at Andy? Other copywriters? Or those people that get dumped with ‘writing words’ as part of their jobs?
AM: It’s aimed at anyone who writes copy, from ‘dumpees’ to pros, but there are three main audiences. In-house copywriters and marketers. Freelancers who maybe want to get someone else’s take on the jobs they write every day. And entrepreneurs who have started a business and need to write copy for their website and offline marketing materials.

TI: I know you’re a busy copywriter, coach and speaker. So how do you find the time to write books as well?
AM: I’m lucky in that I can write fast when I’ve got something to say. When I’ve got a book on the go I set a daily word target, which is the agreed word count for the final book divided by the number of working days till the manuscript submission deadline. Then I put five paper clips on my monitor every Monday morning and put one back in the box for each day I hit my target.

TI: In Write to Sell, you have a useful toolkit for stimulating creative juices (which is stuck to my wall, by the way!). Do you still have times when the words don’t flow? What do you do to get going? Do you use your own toolkit?
AM: I do have moments when it all feels like a grind, but thankfully, the older I get the fewer those times are. I think that’s a product of having a deeper well of past projects and ideas to draw from. I do use my own toolkit – it’s a real list! (And I’m really flattered you have it pinned to your wall!) What works best for me is walking in the garden, and exercise.

TI: Lately we’ve seen the rise of certain sites where you can buy web content for as little as £6 a page. Where does that leave professional copywriters like us Andy?
AM: It leaves us exactly where we were before, writing intelligent, responsive copy for our clients. It’s not in competition. It’s there to a do a different job, which as far as I can see is some very mechanistic SEO ratings improvement. I don’t even believe it will last, as Google is smart enough not be gamed by these tactics.

TI: But do clients recognise quality writing any more?
AM: I think some clients recognise quality writing … and some don’t. You just have to choose who you’re going to work for! I have clients who would give you the bum’s rush if you quoted £20 for a 500-word piece of copy. Others, I know, are dropping their regular writers in favour of the content mills. You can’t argue with that reasoning, you just have to move on and find other clients.

TI: So what’s the future of copywriting? And copywriters?
AM: How long have you got! Here are a couple of predictions. One, it’s not going to go away. Every new technology gives rise to more written communication, not less. Just look at all the white papers, blogs and special reports about social media.

Two, the distinction between web copywriting and print copywriting will gradually disappear. Either because eventually all print media will disappear (unlikely) or because the technology will become so seamless that the focus will shift back to selling/influencing skills rather than PageRanks. Copywriters have a golden opportunity to raise their game – and their income. As more and more people start businesses, the market for copy will increase. But copywriters need to learn or polish some fundamental business skills, like price-setting, negotiating and selling.

TI: Yes, that an interesting point. Great writing skills are essential to being a good copywriter. But you need great business skills to run a successful copywriting business.
AM: That’s right.

TI: You and I chat on Twitter, Andy. What other social media channels do you use, if any?
AM: I use LinkedIn occasionally and now it’s linked to Twitter I like the cross-flow of ideas and readers between the two. I have a blog, which I have recently started posting to much more regularly, again powered by the Twitter effect of being able to tweet about longer and more involved blog posts. I’m on Facebook but very half-heartedly. Jo Kelly, our other copywriter is our Queen of Facebook!

TI: But with the onset of blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc. do you think writing standards are slipping? Is it now more acceptable to have apostrophes in the wrong place and to write their instead of there?
AM: Writing standards are moving in every direction, all at once. Some people are getting better and better, some not. But what Twitter does is make bad writers more visible. I think the ease and speed of Twitter and the rest, particularly if you’re sending your tweets via your mobile, mean you’re less careful to proofread your stuff. I mean, who proofreads tweets anyway!? (I do – sad.)

TI: I do as well! I also punctuate my text messages.
AM: [Laughing] Well for me, it’s not acceptable to punctuate wrongly or break basic rules of composition, but clearly others feel differently! It does make me smile (ruefully) when I see tweets from professional writers that say “your” instead of “you’re”. Not much of an ad for your abilities, is it?

See part 2 of this interview tomorrow where Andy discusses his next book, his best project of all time (it involves Jeremy Clarkson!), and which company he’d really like to work for.


Tags: 100 great copywriting ideas, andy maslen, copywriting sourcebook, write to sell
Posted in Copywriting, Interviews with cool people | comments icon 2 Comments »

It’s a Wide World out there: An interview with Miles Jepson of WideWorldMag

20th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

What do you get when you put four outdoor-loving sports-mad mates together? WideWorldMag.co.uk that’s what. A site dedicated to outdoor pursuits and adventures, and tipped by The Independent as ‘one to watch’ in 2010.

It does help that the four guys involved consist of two experienced journos; a marketing whiz; and a creative web designer. And it’s the designer behind WideWorld’s look, Miles Jepson, who I’m pleased to be talking with today.

Turner Ink: Hey Miles. Thanks for stopping by. How long has WideWorld been up and running now?
Miles Jepson: We went live with the first version of the site in May 2009. We’ve just launched the second version.

TI: So how did it come about and why?
MJ: I’ve known Alex Hannaford and Rob McNicoll for ages and I met Ed Chipperfield through Alex. We’re all keen outdoorsy types. So we finally decided to combine our skills and create a site for people like us, basically!

We thought about it for a year before we launched the site. And of course there were very little in the way of start-up costs as we’re working for free for the first year.

TI: Who’s the site aimed at?
MJ: Well anyone from 16-60 really. Or older. The site is not so much aimed at those obsessive weekly triathlon types. It’s for people who want something new or exciting to do at the weekends. So we cover running, hiking, sailing, skiing, travel, Nordic walking, pot holing, abseiling and outdoor adventures – to name just a few.

We want people to search for activities in their area. And they can do this by just tapping in their postcode. Some recent London trips included a ‘London Canal Safari’ and ‘Sewers of London’ trip.

TI: What are the features of the site then? What do you get if you join?
MJ: Registration is absolutely free. And then you have access to the WideWorld directory which is the biggest of its kind on the Web and includes 100s of activities. There are product reviews and competitions, which you’re automatically entered into. And you also have access to the archive of articles including the popular How to… series.

TI: Oh yes. I’ve read the How to run a marathon and How to survive in a jungle…just in case!
MJ: Those guides have been very popular. Plans for this year include producing the How to…guides as ebooks.

TI: So who’s in the WideWorld team?
MJ: Ed has written for Loaded, The Sunday Times and Men’s Health. Alex has written for The Guardian, The Independent and The Big Issue. Rob McNicoll is an online marketing consultant and then there’s me of course. I’ve worked on design projects for Sony, Microsoft and Reebok.

TI: So where are your contributors based?
MJ: All over the world. We have about 40 journalists and writers who regularly contribute. They review gear, interview sports stars, research travel features and get sent to cover various events. We sent someone to the Barbados Sailing Regatta last year. And we regularly feature explorers on adventures round the globe. Anyone can contribute, in fact. Just send an article to Alex or Ed in the first instance.

TI: The site got very popular very quickly. How did you market it?
MJ: Rob set up a Facebook fan page. And we use Twitter a lot, as well as email marketing. A lot of the site’s growth has been by word of mouth.

TI: So what are the plans for year 2?
MJ: Year 1 was a soft launch really. It was about making sure the site was working really well, and building up our subscribers. We now have 5000 unique visitors a month and 25,000 page views.

In Year 2 we’re pushing the marketing up a notch. We’re going to create customised blogs; we’ve got a couple of contributors who will be on expeditions this year, so you’ll be able to follow their highs and lows via their blog. We’re creating a series of ebooks as I previously mentioned. And we’re just in the process of creating an iPhone app.

Miles JepsonTI: So how about the design? What was the thinking behind that?
MJ: I wanted to move away from that loud trashy skater boy look. I wanted a design that was clean and white and appealed to as wide an audience as possible. It’s similar to an online newspaper format and it’s very easy to navigate.

TI: And finally. When free stuff comes into the office, for you guys to review, who gets it? (Hint hint!)
MJ: Hardly ever me! I’ve managed to grab the odd pair of trainers. Oh and I got a pair of goggles once!

TI: Thanks Miles. Visit the WideWorldMag website. And follow them on Twitter.


Tags: facebook, marketing strategy, twitter
Posted in Interviews with cool people | comments icon No comments yet »

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