Career History
April 2010 – 2020 Independent SEO and Internet Marketing Consultant
Consultant for digital marketing, on and off-page SEO, link building, social networking and other promotional activities including PPC analysis, web analytics, affiliates sales (both as operator and affiliate.) Recent clients include a mid sized, US-based media company making the transition from off- to on-line, where I:
- Trained a large staff in all aspects of digital marketing including SEO, keyword research, social networking, Web site conversion processes, customer retention and Web analytics
- Increased facebook fans and reach by over 100% in less than 6 months by developing a social media marketing strategy for multiple websites. Example page - https://www.facebook.com/Fix-My-Hog-369575050779/
- Worked with a team of web developers and videographers to transition the magazine and video content online, while optimizing content for SEO purposes, video analytics and customer experience. Example site - https://www.qnntv.com/
Developed a web analytics reporting system appropriate to the needs of a variety of levels of management
January 2008 – April 2010 - Niche Technologies (nichetechnologies.com)
Planned, implemented, wrote and promoted the Luxury Property Blog (blog.luxuryproperty.com) as a means to drive traffic to luxuryproperty.com and several other related websites. Determined a digital marketing strategy, integrating keyword research, SEO, PPC, content creation, social networking and web analytics to drive conversions.
- Reached the front page of Google with extremely competitive keywords including, “luxury real estate”, “luxury homes” and “luxury homes for sale”.
- Attained a Google page-rank of 4 and worldwide Alexa ranking of 24k for luxuryproperty.com
- Drove traffic from zero to 100,000+ visitors per month within 6 months
2005 – January 2008 - SEO and Internet Marketing Consultant; Property Blogger
As currently undertaken, plus affiliate marketing and blogging for the property market.
1996 - 2005 - Medical Massage Therapist
I specialised in Sports massage and treating elderly patients with chronic pain issues. I also taught a Sports massage course for the AMTA, using my own techniques, and have many years experience teaching martial arts – primarily Aikido.
I trained at the Virginia School of Massage in the following disciplines:
- Swedish massage
- Deep tissue massage
- Myofascial release
- Cranial sacral therapy
- Therapeutic massage
- Trigger point therapy
- Anatomy and physiology
- Medical massage
- Maternity massage
- Lymphatic drainage
By the end of my training, I had undertaken over 900 hours of training and logged over 600 hours of hands-on experience. I also studied Trager and a variety of movement therapy techniques outside the standard curriculum, eventually developing my own approach that incorporated what I considered to be the best combination of techniques for my clients and most efficient use of my abilities. I incorporated a number of pieces of technology into my practice, which increased my effectiveness, including a hydrocollater, hot stones, percussive massager, TENS machine and aromatherapy oils. I also practiced a number of non-invasive relaxation techniques.
During my time as a professional massage therapist I also:
- Took part as a therapist in an in-depth study into the effects of massage on pain med requirements at Martha Jefferson hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia
- Spent a year massaging cancer patients at Martha Jefferson’s oncology center
- Worked as a therapist at UVA’s Heart and Vascular center
- Taught a Sports massage course for the AMTA
1983-1995 - Photo Finish - Owner/Operator
Owned and managed a small chain of one-hour photo processing mini-labs in the Midlands. Maximum yearly turnover approached £1 million and at peak the company employed 36 staff. I was responsible for all aspects of running a small business, including:
- Cash flow management and cash handling
- Hiring, training and motivating all staff
- Negotiating with suppliers
- Customer complaints (many and unusual in that business)
- Stock control
1979 –1983 - Dixons Photographic Retail Store Manager
Started as a Salesman, advanced to Assistant Manager, and for the last 3 years, Branch Manager. I was responsible first for all aspects of the day to day running of my own branch, which included hiring, training and motivating staff, stock control and certain aspects of profitability upon which some of my salary depended.
Education:
Dates from and to - School/College/University - Qualifications
1972 - 1978 British School in The Netherlands “O” Levels
1978 - 1979 Alleyne’s School, Stevenage “A” Levels
1995 - 1996 Virginia School of Massage NCBTMB
Additional Information:
Life Skills
- Full UK Drivers License
- Languages spoken - English, French, Dutch
- Personal alcohol license (UK)
Key IT Skills
- Wordpress
- Sales Force
- Google Analytics
- Adobe Site Catalyst
- Google Adsense
- Google Adwords
- Google Webmaster tools
- Bing Webmaster tools
- Facebook advertising
- SEO Moz
- SEMrush
- Traffic Travis
- Alexa
- Quantcast
- Market Samurai
- Site Explorer
- Yoast
- Majestic SEO
- Raven tools
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Final Cut Pro X
Hobbies & Interests
- Aikido. I am third dan Aikido, and taught for a number of years.
- Cooking. I am something of a self-taught gourmet cook, capable of cooking for large
- numbers of people.
- Familiar with American, Indian, French, Italian and British cooking techniques.
- I have a strong interest in wine and paring the right wines with the right foods.
References are available on request.