Tag: influencers

After the ringing success of her Google acquisitions infographic, we’re proud to debut Kate Voisin as this week’s Featured Influencer! Kate is an illustrator and graphic designer who, before joining the SI team, worked as a freelancer. Like just about every New Orleanean, she spends much of her off-time writing what she hopes will turn into a novel, or browsing the stacks at Tulane’s library (where she is not actually a student). Her interests include coffee, dystopian novels, and cartoons.

Hard-hitting question time: if you were an amphibian, what kind of amphibian would you be?

A newt! (I’d get better.)

Tell us about yourself! Are you a NOLA resident originally?

I’m from a town a little south of New Orleans, but I’ve been living in and around the city for the past 6 years or so. If I lived on Sesame Street, I’d relate the most to Burt… Although in real life, I’m probably more of an Ernie.
Apparently, I am pretty terrible at answering the question “tell us about yourself.” I don’t know how I got this job.

You’re one of our newer employees — how long ago did you start? How’s SI been so far?

I started at the beginning of August, so I’ve been at SI for a month and half now. It feels like I’ve been here longer, but in a good way. I really like my job– the work is challenging, and there is always coffee. And now that the hazing has stopped, I’m almost completely healed! Just kidding. The hazing was gentle.

What do you find yourself doing around the office? Any particular favorites or disliked tasks?

I do all the usual stuff that IMAs do, like submissions and lots of copying and pasting. But lately, I’ve been getting a lot of graphic design tasks.
I was a freelance designer off and on for about 7 years, and any freelancer will tell you that it’s soul crushing. Designing at SI is heaven. Everyone’s been really open and supportive, and I’ve done everything from massive infographics, to logo retouching, to making a baby-on-board Photoshop of one of our (male) co-workers. (I still feel like I have to apologize for that every time I see him, too. Luke, I’m sorry!)

How did you get into graphic design? Any favorite tools of the trade? Do you do fine art as well?

I think I’ve been using Photoshop to make graphics for my various websites since version 5.0, maybe? That was in the 90s. I know Photoshop better than I know most people, and we’ve come a long way together.
My favorite nerd tool of all time is my Wacom tablet (an Intuous4). I bought it last year, and it’s completely changed the way I think about design. It’s like drawing with pen on paper… but, like, way more amazing. I could go on and on about layers and tilt sensitivity, but I also still want to sound interesting, so… yeah. Wacom tablet. It’s awesome.
And I draw all kinds of stuff! I have a Tumblr that gets seasonally neglected, but I post illustrations and doodles when I’m in the mood. And I’m almost always scribbling on something.

Thanks to Kate for her tireless work making SI’s projects beautiful inside and out! Keep an eye on this space for many more informative and innovative graphic pieces in the near future.

New Orleans born and raised, SI’s own Account Manager Paula Keller was thrilled to get connected with a growing company in a growing industry after graduating from Louisiana State University with a degree in Marketing. With a strong interest economic development and a goal of being a part of the revival of big business in the city she’s always loved, she realized during this very interview that she’s fulfilling that goal by working at Search Influence. Not only does Paula work with an expansive variety of clients across the county, she also has the opportunity to work with some great local companies, including Audubon Nature Institute and Archon Information Systems.

Let’s start with the important stuff: if you were a pastry, what kind of pastry would you be?

A chocolate glazed donught from Dorignac’s. It’s an old fashioned classic that’s always in style.

What is it that you do around here? What kind of skills do you find yourself using throughout the average workday?

While my new business card doesn’t list a title, I’m officially an Account Manager. You could also call me a Keywordsmith, Google Place Page Perfectionist, and Package Crafter. I do a little bit of everything. I think that is pretty typical of an Account Manager in any organization – we do everything and anything necessary to serve our clients the best work product. I manage not only some stellar direct clients, but also some fantastic white label relationships.

There’s a few responsibilities / projects that stand out when I think about what I do exactly. Shortly after I started with Search Influence, I dived into Google Place Page creation, claiming and optimization for all of our existing clients, which led to hands-on creation of far over 100 Google Place Pages during my time here. Secondly, over the past 6 months, I’ve worked with Will and crew to totally revamp our SEO packages and some additional a la carte offerings, which was a great learning experience and a lot of fun.

The average workday requires a wide range of skills, from time management, organizational, personal, and the ever important: “where are we eating lunch today?” skills.

Is there anything you’d like to be doing more or less of around the SI offices? In the perfect world, what would you be doing all day?

In a perfect world, I’d be cooking (and eating) all day. I was secretly hoping for a stove in our kitchen at the new office, but its probably a good thing that we don’t have one, or else I would be bringing batches of ingredients to whip up deliciousness in the kitchen at lunch time.

As some of our readers know, you used to be the blog manager, cajoling, bribing and occasionally extorting entries out of everyone at the company. Be honest: do you miss it a little?

Every day! Blogger-in-chief was one of my favorite hats I’ve worn around here. I’ve always loved to write (even research papers), and friends often asked me to review their papers as I was honest and would often edit it as much as I would if I was putting my name on it. WIth SI’s blog, not only did I love editing the posts, I was privileged to be the first to read SI’s take on breaking SEO news!

Is there anything that excites you about coming to work every day?

Is this a Yelp review or an interview? I love working with our clients. The best thing about what we do is that we get to help increase and improve the bottom line for small and large businesses. I love the whole process of selecting keywords, putting the strategy to work, and then watching the rankings climb, traffic go up, and customers come to the business.

Does keeping track of so much information from the people in production and directly interfacing with clients every day get to be a lot of pressure? Any tips for handling it?

Pressure? Nah. It’s a joy. That’s what the coffee is for. And To Do Lists. My #1 tip for handling any situation: Just write it down. Even if you think “oh, I’ll remember that” – write it down (and remember where you wrote it).

Thanks so much for everything you do around here, Paula K! For the new readers, you can check out the wide variety of informative and insightful blog posts Paula has written for us, and stay tuned for more Influencer profiles in weeks to come!

We’re back with another Influencer Profile! This week’s honoree is Production and Content Manager Steve Maloney, he of impeccable taste in headgear and nut-based snack food. While most people think of newspapers as what happens when you print out NPR, Smaloney (as he’s known around the SI offices) used to write them. Steve comes from the world of print journalism, having been a newspaper reporter before transitioning over into the world of keyword-rich, search engine friendly, online content. With experience running blogs, writing blogs, wrangling writers, and making a living as a writer himself, Steve brings a wide range of experience to Search Influence.

So what do you find yourself doing around here?

A little bit of everything. I assign out hundreds of articles to our writers every month, make sure they are completed correctly and on time, make sure the production crew is running like the well-oiled machine that it is, and put out any fires I may come across every day. I also train new people and keep the bowl of mixed nuts on my desk at least halfway full most of the time.

Is there anything that particularly excites you about coming to work every day?

My chair is really comfortable, and I always enjoy it when my “snakes in a can” trick fools some unsuspecting sap.

What do you think your most awesome contributions have been so far?

Snakes in a can. Oh, and I introduced Leigh to the wonderful world of Care Bears this morning.

Anything you’d like to do more of? In the ideal world, what would you be doing all day?

Mostly cruising around Bayou St. John in a kayak. But since I don’t own a kayak or live particularly close to Bayou St. John anymore, I guess my ideal day would involve a swimming pool and a good book.

How do you handle staying on top of and motivating your colleagues and us titans of production?

The Titans of Production is not only the name of an underground 80’s hair metal band [citation needed], but the nomenclature also fittingly describes the production team here at Search Influence. Reining in this team requires a delicate balance of sight gags, cat-like reflexes, snacks, comic books, early 90’s soft rock, and comfortable shoes.

How does SI compare to the more writing-intensive work that you’re experienced with? Do you think an element of creativity comes through?

Much of the finesse and control I once enjoyed over English wordings gone… now… but I really like setting the deadlines instead of being petrified of them as I was back when I was a newspaper reporter. I do miss the fedora with my press pass in the headband, though. I’m always writing, even if most of it doesn’t make it to paper. It’s a reflex action, much like breathing.

Thanks for all that you do herding the metaphorical cats in the production room, Steve. Keep an eye out for this one’s inaugural blog post — it’s sure to be a good read!

After a long hiatus, we’re pleased to announce that our Influencer Profile series is back! Every other week we’ll be highlighting one of our talented teammates, and this week’s employee is one of our resident junior developers Olin Gallet.

Olin started on our production team just a few months ago, assisting Luke Ledet and Jason Hamilton with the technical end of what Search Influence does. He’s a recent graduate of the University of New Orleans’ Computer Science program with a minor in English — which obviously means that you’ll be seeing more of his excellent blogging skills on display in the near future.

As one of our resident early birds, you can usually find Olin tapping away at PHP code at absurd hours of the morning. On the off-days he spends his time discovering new music, writing, playing Street Fighter, programming and having adventures around New Orleans. Just don’t call him “bro”… And without further ado, the man himself!

A note from Olin – since I’ve actually got a minor in English focused on poetry writing, I’d like to show you some of my lyrical skills. I’m not letting Julia have all the fun around here.

So what do you find yourself doing on a day-to-day basis around here?

Turn on computer

Type words look at peers code works

Turn off computer

There really is no set guideline as to what I do day-to-day. I just fix problems people have and make sure the solution works.

Is there anything that excites you about coming to work every day?

No amount of money or bountiful women with plastic surgery can keep me coming to work. What keeps me coming to work is the people here. I’m not naming names for the sake of favoritism, but there are some characters at work that make the day go by better.

Most importantly, people know how to leave me alone when I have stuff to do. They also know how to help me or at least entertain my questions when I have them. When I can get my job done and help other people do the same, then I know I had a good day at work.

What are your biggest contributions?

I’d say my biggest contribution so far has been designing various forms for various websites. Being able to see the work I do makes it huge for me. They’re also important for ensuring that customers have an easily accessible way to communicate their needs and concerns to the client.

Anything you’d like to do more of at SI? In a perfect world, what would you be sitting around all day doing?

I want to do something more creative. For one, I want to get involved in more marketing. I realize that many of the tasks such as keyword research and article writing are repetitive and time-consuming. I want to create ways to minimize the work in these tasks.

I also want to get involved into graphic design at work. I used to be big into just sketching around when I got a drawing tablet for my laptop, but I haven’t had much time for design recently. I want to get back into it.

_________________________________________?

Hey, this is my question for you. What do you want to know about me? The only stupid questions are those that are left unasked. Feel free to either drop it in the comments, email me at [email protected], or pass me a note at work (just make sure Luke isn’t looking).

Thanks for all your hard work, Olin! We have a really talented and interesting team here at SI, and we’re proud to show off each and every one of them. Keep your eyes on this space for more profiles of our Influencers!