The ideal candidate will have:
1) 5 years of work experience in online marketing and/or direct SEO management
2) Advanced understanding and experience with Web Analytics
3) Experience with web copywriting
4) Proven track record in developing successful online marketing strategies to drive organic website traffic

COMPANY
Cottonwood Financial, headquartered in Irving (Las Colinas), Texas, is one of the largest privately-held financial service providers to the growing, under-banked segment of the retail consumer finance industry. Founded in 1996, we have over 280 company owned locations across the country. We are actively engaged in a high-volume, rapid retail rollout of new locations to significantly increase the footprint of our company throughout the United States in both existing and new markets. We also continue to expand our product and service offerings.

KEY COMPANY FACTS
• Named to the Inc. 500/5000 list of the fastest-growing, private companies in America for 2010
• Named to Dallas Business Journal’s “Top 100 Fastest Growing Businesses” for five consecutive years
• Profitable every year since inception
• Revenues have doubled since 2004
• Company has no debt – growth funded through internal capital
• Plan to expand to 500 locations by the end of 2013
• Locations are company owned – no franchises
• Approximately 770 employees – 140+ at Corporate and 630+ in the field
• Corporate Office has 38,000 square feet

BENEFITS
Include medical (PPO or HSA), dental, vision, life, AD&D, 401(k) with company match, and a business casual work environment.

INDUSTRY
The US consumer finance industry has exploded in recent years to annual revenue of greater than $40 billion. Retail consumer finance companies, a subset of the consumer finance industry, operate primarily in the subprime portion of the market serving under-banked consumers who are seeking secured/unsecured cash loans as a low cost alternative to costly bounced-check fees, late payment penalties, and other less desirable short-term credit options.

CURRENT PRODUCT MIX
Cash Advances
Cash Advances are typically small, unsecured, short-term (until payday) cash loans of up to $2,000. These loans are usually payable in a single payment. Requirements for Cash Advances include a regular source of income, an active checking account, and valid driver’s license or state ID. To learn more about Cash Advances, please visit the Community Financial Services Association of America website at http://www.cfsa.net/about_payday_advance.html.

Title Loans
Title Loans are typically small, secured, short-term auto equity cash loans of up to $20,000. These loans are usually payable in a single payment. Requirements for a Title Loan include a regular source of income, a free and clear title, and a valid driver’s license.

Installment Loans
Installment Loans are typically small, unsecured or secured, short term cash loans of up to $2,000. These loans are repaid with a fixed number of periodic equal-sized payments. Requirements for Installment Loans include a regular source of income, an active checking account, and valid driver’s license or state ID.

SIMILAR PUBLIC COMPETITORS
Advance America
QC Financial

POSITION
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Sr. Analyst reports to the Director of Marketing and will be responsible for implementing and executing SEO strategies and tactics in order to increase organic website traffic and lead generation. This position requires an in-depth understanding of SEO best practices and a proven track record of exceptional traffic and visibility growth from SEO management. The SEO Sr. Analyst will also be responsible for Online Reputation Management through Social Media and Blogging.

RESPONSIBILITIES
• Direct and execute SEO strategy driving increased SEO traffic and conversion
• Define, Monitor, and analyze key performance indicators (KPI’s) for continuous improvement of SEO management
• Stay abreast of new search engine optimization industry developments and incorporate into ongoing SEO management
• SEO and website design vendor management
• Develop and execute link building strategy (Internal and External)
• Develop, implement and manage Social Media marketing campaigns and Blog strategy
• Create content by routinely writing blog posts and managing social media sites to build real traffic, interest, and links back to our web properties

IDEAL CANDIDATE
• 5 years of work experience:
o Online marketing experience
o Direct SEO management
• Advanced understanding and experience with Web Analytics
• Experience with web copywriting
• Proven track record in developing successful online marketing strategies to drive organic website traffic
• Organized and analytical thought process
• Mature/professional demeanor
• Self-assured and confident
• Strong work ethic (disciplined and self-starter)
• Effective communicator
• Managing vendors and negotiating contracts

REQUIREMENTS
• Bachelor’s degree
• Based in DFW area (no relocation)

COMPENSATION
Competitive salary will be based upon past experience and accomplishments and will be commensurate with experience.

CONTACT
Mike McMillin
Vice President Recruiting
Cottonwood Financial
972-753-0822 x1116
mmcmillin @ cottonwoodfinancial.com

Job responsibilities include:

Developing the organic search strategy

– Review all relevant material or attend meetings to gain a full understanding of their client’s marketing/site goals and objectives

– Translate client’s marketing goals into a responsible and successful organic strategy based on your knowledge of the search engine algorithms

– Communicate your strategy directly to their client, including onsite visits

Creating detailed SEO recommendations

– Develop keyword strategies for optimal on-site performance

– Provide detailed site analysis

– Provide actionable competitive analysis

– Develop detailed recommendations for site changes

– Develop a comprehensive linking strategy

Monitoring progress and adjusting the optimization strategy accordingly

– Establish SEO audit baselines

– Establish SEO performance baselines

– QA all SEO recommendations, before and after launch

– Analyze monthly search engine performance reports to determine if new optimizations are needed

– Monitor client site and competitor site changes

Improving SEO expertise

– Stay updated with new search engine algorithm changes and tactics

– Write client-ready POVs and internal SEO standards documents

– Keep abreast of latest search engine trends and news

– Recommend and research new tools and offerings (e.g. social search, reputation mgmt., local search etc.)

– Participate and occasionally lead SEO team meetings

– Mentor junior SEO Specialists

Assisting in Sales process

– Assist on renewal activities

– Upon request, analyze prospective sites for sales opportunities

Experience/Education

– BA or BS required in Marketing, IT or a related field

– 3-5 years experience in organic Search Engine Optimization

– 1-3 years writing/editing web pages

– 1+ years of experience in web development

– Experienced client-facing presenter

– Ability to handle multiple clients simultaneously

– Excellent writing and communication skills

– Proficiency with a variety of SEO tools (indexing, on-page and linking)

– Proficiency with MS office tools

This role is Boston and New York based with compensation packages between $70k and $120k commensurate with experience. Please contact Domenic Costagliola for more information:

Domenic Costagliola
ICONSTAFF

Work: 978-521-9190 x12
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/domcosta1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Domenic-Costagliola/1009087869
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DomCosta1

The specific duties include:

* Understand the customer’s product, markets, the competitors, and their marketing objectives and goals.
* Identify and develop the most effective and cost-efficient search engine strategy to achieve the client’s objectives and goals. Insure the strategy is integrated with the client’s holistic marketing strategy.
* Coordinate and optimize paid and organic search marketing strategies.
* Work with analytics team to evaluate the success of the search marketing strategy, and recommend enhancements.
* Serve as the primary point of contact for the client, and develop a strong client relationship.
* Responsible for the renewal of client accounts, and for identifying new sales opportunities within the client’s business.

Skills and Experience Required:

* A minimum of 5-7 years of product marketing experience
* Previous search engine marketing is preferred
* Computer skills including proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
* Must have excellent attention to detail and the ability to effectively multi-task in a deadline driven atmosphere
* Excellent writing and communication skills
* Strong strategic marketing skills
* Excellent interpersonal skills, and client skills, must be eager to work as member of a team
* Must possess the skills needed to renew clients and identify new sales opportunities

Willingness and ability to travel and work extended hours as needed

This role is Boston and New York based with compensation packages between $70k and $120k commensurate with experience. Please contact Domenic Costagliola for more information:

Domenic Costagliola
ICONSTAFF

Work: 978-521-9190 x12
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/domcosta1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Domenic-Costagliola/1009087869
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DomCosta1

The Ad Inventory Analyst is responsible for the delivery of the following critical tasks.

Running various reports from the ad server and site analytics application

Manipulate and analyze data in order to create an in-depth holistic understanding of ad inventory situation across multiple domains and audience

Analyze seasonality patterns for different domains, markets, segment of visitors, watch destinations, etc.

Update forecast based on the seasonality trends, verify and ensure accuracy of forecasting at any moment

Work closely with US and EU ad sales management to communicate inventory situation and ensure optimal use of ad inventory for the benefit of both teams

Search for the ways to create new ad inventory, optimize usage of existing inventory, improve performance of advertising campaigns and help maximizing ad revenue

Analyze roots of underdeliveries make recommendations on how to insure delivery and better performance

Produce inventory reports/analyses showing inventory situation across multiple sites/domains/IP addresses, etc to help make decisions on how to optimize inventory usage

Job Requirements:

Must possess a BS/BA degree with a minimum of 4 years of internet business experience.

Campaign management & trafficking experience,

Excellent knowledge of Excel and other data manipulation tools

Must be comfortable with manipulating and analyzing large datasets, have analytical mind set and passion for numbers

Knowledge of ad serving technology – Dart strongly preferred.

Keen eye for detail

Strong teamwork skills.

Great interpersonal skills are required

Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines.

This role is Boston and New York based with compensation packages between $70k and $120k commensurate with experience. Please contact Domenic Costagliola for more information:

Domenic Costagliola
ICONSTAFF

Work: 978-521-9190 x12
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/domcosta1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Domenic-Costagliola/1009087869
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DomCosta1

– Manage day-to-day operational aspects of account and client interactions

– Develop strong, positive relationships with all client team members Campaign plan creation

– Create a detailed project plan based on interaction with client and team

– Revise plan when needed to accommodate changes in client/project direction

– Establish and manage project expectations with client, team members and other internal/external stakeholders Campaign implementation management

– Work effectively with the SEO and paid teams by managing and tracking their daily tasks, progress and deadlines

– Create specified PM-related project deliverables

– Participate in QA of non-PM related project deliverables

– Ensure hours and budgets are tracked and managed accordingly Campaign communications

– Effectively communicate and report on project milestones to the Director of Project Management, Account Directors and internal project teams

– Report monthly status and/or campaign performance to client — Present quarterly account progress to management team Skills/Experience Required:

– 3-5 years experience in account management in an internet environment

– BA/BS degree required; Marketing concentration a plus

– Strong attention to detail

– Ability to handle multiple clients in a deadline driven atmosphere — Strong presentation and negotiation skills

– Excellent writing and communication skills

– Proficiency with MS office tools

– Exposure to web analytics tools

This role is Boston and New York based with compensation packages between $70k and $120k commensurate with experience. Please contact Domenic Costagliola for more information:

Domenic Costagliola
ICONSTAFF

Work: 978-521-9190 x12
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/domcosta1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Domenic-Costagliola/1009087869
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DomCosta1

Responsibilities

* Provide strategic and marketing guidance and leadership to client
* Support business development function during initiation of client relationships and then grow client relationships.
* Develop the account structure for new accounts including formation of the support team, development of specific roles and responsibilities within an account, and development of the contractual context for the account (MSA, account financial standard SOPs to ensure profitability, etc.).
* Work with clients to uncover business needs and objectives, craft appropriate strategies, and identify/implement products to help achieve client goals.
* Develop online marketing as an increasingly important element in client’s overall marketing mix.
* Develop and interpret analysis to support marketing recommendations
* Develop broad industry expertise while knowing clients’ business and generate new ideas to enhance client performance.
* Build trust, credibility, and client referrals while developing multi-tiered client relationships
* Effectively manage a team of three to five marketing account management professionals
* Build the firm’s culture within account team and through account team’s interaction with service’s groups
* Manage client revenues profitably
* Work with business development team to develop new client sales proposals.
* Balance client demands with participation in broader agency initiatives
* Translate overall company objectives and strategies into action across their respective accounts
* Review relevant Statements of Work for their accounts and developing pricing/discounting recommendations
* Lead delivery of all strategy and planning projects for their clients
* Provide business, financial and market analyses for client projects

Qualifications/Skills

* Bachelors degree required; advanced degree a plus (business or marketing discipline is strongly preferred)
* 7 years account management including 4 years experience within Interactive Marketing Agency or Consultancy whose core business is selling & delivering online marketing and direct/database driven marketing & analytical solutions to clients (ideally including experience within the e-mail and other online channels)
* Excellent communication skills (oral and written)
* Significant experience in, and understanding of, development and application of strategy, marketing communication planning, interactive design and consultation, creative development and execution, advertising, media planning, business analysis, and market research.
* An understanding of the use of databases, data mining, segmentation, CRM & web analytics for optimizing marketing programs.
* Excellent client management skills, especially as it relates to setting and managing client expectations
* Portfolio management and business process development experience
* Proven experience managing the profitability of a line of business or service group
* Proven ability to generate new business & increase incremental revenue from existing clients through solution selling
* Proven ability to derive and quantify ROI and financial impact of the services they provide their customer base, experience at solution development and innovation, and proven large account planning success
* Experience with large scale Fortune 1000 Enterprises – ideally extensive experience managing and growing highly decentralized F1000 customers
* Experience in developing, managing, leveraging, and mentoring Account Service professionals
* Excellent team building and leadership skills

This role is Boston and New York based with compensation packages between $70k and $120k commensurate with experience. Please contact Domenic Costagliola for more information:

Domenic Costagliola
ICONSTAFF

Work: 978-521-9190 x12
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/domcosta1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Domenic-Costagliola/1009087869
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DomCosta1

Discount Code
I have been given a discount code for the Dallas Pubcon conference:
Use code: rc-4002020 when registering for this internet marketing conference in Dallas.

When it comes to promoting your business online and marketing your business on the internet, you probably already know that not only must you be online, you have to use the latest tips and internet marketing techniques wisely. As such, you need the leading edge internet marketing tips and techniques, as well as the networking that comes along with conferences like this.

What is Pubcon?
Pubcon is the very best leading edge internet marketing education and networking you can get: all jam packed into over 90 sessions featuring 200 expert speakers. All on subjects related to internet marketing and marketing your business online, including Internet Marketing, Website Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media and Social Networking, and even Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising on Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter. Pubcon is now in its 8th year, and was founded from the rich and very diverse base of Brett Tabke’s WebmasterWorld Forums.

Hear Me Speak
I will be speaking at the Pubcon conference here in the Dallas area on “2010 SEO“, a session devoted to what you need to know about getting a high ranking in the search engines. The focus is back on real Search Engine Optimization for 2010! The recession has kept budgets tight and there is no better way to drive traffic to a Web site than through FREE traffic from Search Engines. Find out the latest techniques for getting your site to rank organically in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Here are some more details about the conference:

Where: Dallas, Texas Richardson Civic Convention Center
Format: Four Track Educational Conference
Topics: Search, Web 2.0, Net Marketing, SEO/SEM, Affiliates, Domainers, Video, Multimedia : aka: Webmastery.
Levels: PubCon is scaled mainly from professional to expert experience levels (heavy content). We start where other conferences finish.

For more information, see www.Pubcon.com and the agenda page.

The Yahoo! Publisher Network takes ads from their Yahoo! Search Marketing program and, just like the Google AdSense program, allows independent websites to publish the ads–and share in the revenue.

Here is the email that I just got from Yahoo!:

Dear Publisher,

Yahoo! continuously evaluates and prioritizes our products and services, in alignment with business goals and our continued commitment to deliver the best consumer and advertiser experiences. After conducting an extensive review of the Yahoo! Publisher Network beta program, we have decided to close the program effective April 30, 2010. We expect to deliver final publisher payments for the month ending April 30, 2010 to publishers no later than May 31, 2010. All publishers eligible for 1099s for the 2010 tax year will have those mailed by January 31, 2011.

Because our content will no longer be delivered to your ad unit spaces after April 30, 2010, we recommend removing all YPN ad code from your pages by that date.

For the opportunity to continue earning revenue, we suggest using Chitika, a leading advertising network that syndicates Yahoo! Content Match and Sponsored Search ads. Chitika has set up a special process for YPNO beta publishers to participate in its platform. Click here for more information.

We thank you for your participation in the Yahoo! Publisher Network beta. If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact our Support Team at (866) 785-2636, Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT.
Sincerely,

Your Partners at Yahoo!

I am not surprised that Yahoo! has decided to shut down the Yahoo! Publisher Network program, since many things are changing over at Yahoo! because of the agreement between Yahoo! and Microsoft is now official. I would bet, though, that since the Microsoft AdCenter ads are going to be showing up over on Yahoo! then there is going to be another contextual advertising program announced soon.

Well, take a look at this interesting comment in that TechCrunch article:

Like many of its other recent efforts, especially with Buzz, Google Reader Play is an attempt to encourage more direct sharing and to capture that sharing data. More and more Website referral traffic is coming from sharing service such as Twitter and Facebook. Google wants to be in the sharing game as well.

Oh really? Google definitely wants to be in the sharing game, as well. And wouldn’t it make sense that Google would want to capture as much “sharing” data as they can? Perhaps one reason why Google (and Bing.com) bought the Twitter data feed and integrated it into Google Real Time Search was the fact that they wanted to know exactly who was sharing links with others.

When it comes to search engine optimization, historically it always been about links. Getting links from other websites that are on-topic to your website is important. I personally have always preached about being the “information source” for your industry. If you can come up with as much content as you can about your industry that’s going to help you in the long run. And others in your industry, even your direct competitors, will end up linking to you. I’ve seen it before. When I never thought that one competitor would link to another, one company ended up linking to their biggest competitor because their competitor had published a wonderful industry “dictionary” or “glossary of terms” on their website. The competitor wanted to point to good information. So, they linked to their competitor’s online glossary of industry terms.

But as we continue to evolve on the internet, there are a lot of people who are using social media websites on a daily basis. We’re not only going to static websites where links remain the same for a long time: we’re sharing links with our friends (and those who follow us) on sites like Twitter and even on websites like Facebook.

Suddenly, we all have become “link builders”. We’re sharing our favorite URLs of stories, news articles, blog posts, and funny pictures and videos with each other. Search engine like Google, Bing, and Yahoo! now want to keep up with our sharing data. Why do they care if you share something with your friends?

From a search engine’s perspective, the theory here is that most likely you are sharing something with your friends because you like it. You like that URL enough that you want to share it with everyone who is following you. And so it goes: you liked it, you’re a human, and so therefore someone else is probably going to like it. The search engines are in the business of giving us great search engine results. If you find what you’re looking for, if others have retweeted it and it matches other “search engine ranking factors”, then the search engine will display it in the search results.

And if you’re a search engine optimization expert or website marketing expert or social media marketing expert (whatever we are called these days), then you most likely share that URL because you think there is a good chance that people will visit that link. But, more importantly, we need to start thinking about the data that the search engines, like Google, have access to. They have access to the social sharing data now. And since a human is involved by sharing a URL (a link) with their network of friends, then you better start realizing that social sharing quite possibly could be the next “link building”.

Some of these well-known speakers include:

Jamie Turner, Director of Consumer Insight for direct response and interactive agency BKV, and Chief Content Officer for The 60 Second Marketer

Ekaterina Walter, Social Media Strategist, Intel Corporation and best practices expert

Mike Pranikoff, Director of New Media, PR Newswire, on the New World of Social PR

Bill Hunt, Board member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and leading expert in Enterprise and International Search Engine Marketing Strategy

Jeff Klein of Oracle, on getting the most from CRM systems

The luncheon featured speaker is Steven Woods, national thought leader on lead generation and marketing automation technologies. Woods is CTO and co-founder of Eloqua and author of the Amazon.com best-seller, “Digital Body Language.”

Fifteen sessions and 2 keynotes will cover revenue-driving topics for marketers and sales professionals, including: demand generation; public relations and social media; brand experience and brand awareness; sales and marketing alignment and CRM; tracking return on marketing and sales investment; and integrated marketing solutions.

For a complete list of speakers and topics and to register, visit www.IntegratedMarketingSummit.com

The Integrated Marketing Summit (IMS) is premised on the core belief that the single most important role of marketing, like sales, is to drive revenue rapidly. The business of marketing is changing – reflected by the fact that customers and prospects now interact with products, services, brands and each other across an increasing number of channels. IMS was created to provide marketing and sales professionals with an event and a community for sharing the best practices, technologies and expertise they need to Drive Revenue Rapidly. Visit www.IntegratedMarketingSummit.com for details and registration information.