5 Marketing Gigs You Can Do From Home

The Daily Muse 23 hours ago

For marketing professionals, sitting in a cubicle is something like a paradox. They're creative, resourceful and observant of our surroundings — and being confined to a literal box can really cramp their capabilities.

Luckily for those who work in marketing, companies are now considering remote employees more than ever, giving marketers an opportunity to work from a coffee shop, at home or anywhere that's going to allow them to be more productive.

In fact, there are a number of opportunities out there for work-from-homers — specifically in the digital marketing world and with tech companies that are increasingly advocating for virtual work environments. So, if you’ve ever thought about taking your marketing career out of the office, take a look at these types of positions.

1. Product Marketing Manager

If you love both tech and marketing, check out Product Marketing Manager roles, where you’ll manage new product releases and the internal communications, messaging and positioning that surround them.

While many companies want their Product Marketing Managers based on-site to interact with other team members, you can have success working for start-ups that are tight on space or companies that value virtual work. For example, Santa Barbara-based cloud computing startup RightScale offers many work-from-home positions — and is currently hiring a remote Product Marketing Manager who can be based in California, Seattle or Denver.

You Should Have: Tech savvy. Product Marketing Managers typically work with software and web-based products, so a passion for and experience in this world is ideal.

2. Marketing Copywriter

Recently rated one of the best jobs in the marketing and advertising industry, copywriting is an obvious choice for a work-from-home gig. After all, the work you produce — including web copy, ebooks, sales materials, blogs and articles — says far more than the hours you clock in at an office.

It isn’t difficult to find full-time work-from-home copywriting positions for companies or marketing agencies on sites like FlexJobs; or, if you’d like to freelance, check out Freelance Writing Jobsand ProBlogger’s Job Board.

You Should Have: Awesome writing skills is a given, but you should also have a handle on SEO. Companies want writing that they know will get seen on the web.

3. Marketing Analyst

If you’re extremely detail-oriented and love crunching numbers, this is a cool opportunity to do from home. In a position that requires you to analyze data and turn it into brand or marketing strategy, a quiet, uninterrupted work environment allows you to be more productive.

These types of roles vary in both scope and experience — for example, United Health Group is hiring a Senior Marketing Research Analyst to perform high-level research and make recommendations on that data, and an e-commerce company is seeking a telecommuting SEO Analyst Assistant to perform SEO research and data entry.

You Should Have: Depends on the role, but most likely a combination of analytical skills and strategic thinking. And an understanding of SEO is a big bonus.

4. Content Strategist

If you’re currently blogging, chances are you already understand how content marketing works. So, why not use your expertise to show companies how to be successful with the same methods? As a Content Strategist, you’ll work with brands to determine what type of content they need based on their goals — then, you’ll work to develop that strategy through campaigns, projects and editorial calendars.

There are plenty of opportunities available for full-time and contract roles, but I’ve also seen people have success pitching their skills to businesses they want to work with. If you’re hired on a project basis and deliver great results, that’s a great case for hiring you full-time. Make a list of places you want to work, pitch them your idea and learn from the process.

You Should Have: Proven success with blogging or content strategy.

5. Digital Marketing Consultant

This is probably the most flexible role of all, and if you have several years of experience and proven success in digital marketing, it could be the ideal gig for you. As a bonus, consultants are generally paid well, as companies rely on their expertise to take their company to the next level.

One option is working for a digital marketing firm, which are often hired to analyze current digital marketing processes and policies, provide thought leadership, and strategize with teams on improved performance.

Or, you can strike out on your own as a freelance consultant, where you can choose exactly what types of work and clients you take on. This can be a great fit if you’re looking to carve out an industry niche for yourself. Think social media for fashion and beauty clients or brand strategy work for healthcare organizations.

You Should Have: Several years of experience, ideally deep expertise in one or two specific sets of skills.

Image courtesy of Flickr, ishane

This article originally published at The Daily Muse here

Study: Amazon's Ad Business Is Bigger Than Twitter's

Many are aware of Amazon's robust retail and web-hosting businesses, but less are familiar with its advertising business, which is rapidly becoming a significant player in the space.

Amazon brought in $450 million in advertising in revenue last year, according to eMarketer estimates published Tuesday. The company managed to increase its advertising business by nearly two-thirds between 2011 and 2012, and is expected to grow it by another half this year — to $660 million. This makes Amazon's ad business even bigger than Twitter's, which eMarketer previously estimated would generate $580 million this year.

By 2015, Amazon is predicted to bring in $1.1 billion in advertising revenue, about one-fifth ofFacebook's earnings last year. Advertising is still rather small part of Amazon's total revenue picture however: The company reported $61.1 billion in net income last year.

How exactly is Amazon making so much from advertising? For one thing, it has a lot of inventory: Amazon is the sixth most-trafficked website in the world, according to Alexa, and runs multiple display ad units on every page. That's in addition to the ads it runs on other Amazon-owned sites like Zappos and Shopbop, Kindle devices and websites of ad network partners.

Amazon also has a unique targeting advantage, thanks to the customer purchasing data it has collected through its retail sites. As eMarketer points out, this is data that competitors such asGoogle and Facebook lack.

eMarketer believes that the majority of Amazon's ad dollars come from ads placed on search result pages. It makes sense that these would be particularly lucrative: According to Forrester,twice as many Internet users begin researching online purchases at Amazon over Google, and advertisers want to target consumers who are actively seeking to purchase products.

Images via Mashable, eMarketer

Apple Doubles Down on California Focus in Print Ad

It looks like we're going to be hearing more this summer about how Apple's products are designed in California.

9to5Mac spotted the two-page print ad above in the Toronto Star. The ad features a paean to Apple's famously exacting team of engineers and designers. "We don't believe in coincidence. Or dumb luck," it reads. "There are a thousand 'no's' for every 'yes.'"

Apple rolled out the new campaign shortly after its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month. Like other recent Apple ads, the new spot focuses less on particular features of the company's products and more on the way these products are used in everyday life.

The ads come after years of product-oriented ads haven't slowed the rise of Google's Android software, according to a report in Bloomberg. That report added that "he campaign will emphasize the quality and reliability of Apple’s ecosystem of products, apps and content" and there will be more in coming months. The emphasis on California may also be designed to deflect some criticism of the company's outsourcing of manufacturing to China. Apple is moving some of that manufacturing back to the U.S.

Apple strayed from its product-oriented message before. Last summer, the company rolled out ads celebrating its "Genius" employees, but pulled them within a few weeks after much criticism.

Below is a full-size version of the latest ad:

Images courtesy of Apple

Social Makeover: A Cheese Merchant Sees Results on Facebook

As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. For a Virginia-based cheesemonger, though the equivalent might be when the FDA takes away your cheese, create a Facebook contest.

Back in March, the Food and Drug Administration began a total cheese lockdown with regard to mimolette, a French gouda rival. The FDA reasoned that mimolette might trigger allergies in some whose systems can abide the tiny cheese mites needed to aerate mimolette.

Jill Erber, the owner of Cheesetique, a business Mashable profiled earlier this month decided to capitalize on the controversy by offering a 1/4 lb. of her company's dwindling stock of mimolette to fans who posted a pic of themselves "frowning pathetically" on Cheesetique's Facebook Page. The result was overwhelming. Some 80 people posted photos and the stunt caught the attention of national media including Fox News and The Washington Post, which Erber says plans to run an article this week on the topic.

That was the highlight of a productive three weeks or so for Erber, whom we had paired up with a member of Mashable's Small Business Panel, consultant David Wittlinger, the web designer and social media strategist behind Colomark Media. As previously mentioned, Wittlinger proved himself to be a consultant extraordinaire by preparing an exhaustive plan of action for Erber. Erber mostly followed it and was very happy with the results.

The gist: Cheesetique added 359 fans to its main Page over the period, and 64 to its smallerCheesetiqueShirlingtonPage. Wittlinger prepared charts showing the growth for both Facebook Pages:

It's impossible to make a case that the activity improved business, but Erber says sales in Shirlington were up 20% for the month. "I can’t tie directly to Facebook," she says. "But I can say anedotally that a ton of people came in asking about [mimolette]." Sales in the main location, however, were flat. "We may have reached a saturation point there," Erber says.

You may conclude that Erber was just lucky to have stumbled on a rare international cause célèbre this time around, but she chooses to believe that it was the Facebook activity that triggered the media coverage. In other words, when you sow your Facebook Page, you may reap unexpected benefits.

In either case, Erber is satisfied that the half hour to two-and-a-half-hours she spent daily cultivating the Page was time well spent. "I just literally sit all day long and do Facebook stuff," she says. "As a result it completely changed my way of thinking about how to use social media."

At Wittlinger's suggestion, Erber didn't create more status updates, she just did them better. Part of that was a change of mission. Instead of using social media for promos and offers, Erber began positioning herself as a cheese expert. Another strategy was to use the company's blogThe Cheeselog as her primary mode of communication. Instead of trying to come up with pithy status updates, Erber spent a longer time writing blog entries and then condensing her thoughts for Facebook.

"The blog is more expository," she said. "Setting aside that time to write more lengthy blog posts resulted in better posts overall."

Erber also dabbled in Facebook advertising, spending $87 over the period to get the word out on Facebook. She tried about five different types of ads over that time, and the performances varied greatly. A video post explaining what stinky cheese is (see below) got hundreds of views, but resulted in few likes because there was no explicit call to action. An offer for 25% off cheese platters through July 4 that was posted a day before this writing has so far gotten zero clicks. Nevertheless, Erber is sold on Facebook advertising. "If I were to do this again I would devote more time and energy to the ads," she said.

By all appearances, Erber will do it again. For her, even three weeks provided ample time to illustrate the benefits of a smart social media strategy. However, Erber says that she couldn't have done it by herself, which is why she recommends that small businesses like hers hire a consultant. "The thing was having someone help me do it," she said. "It really was having someone sit with me and teach me a bit. For someone not familiar with [social media], it can all be too overwhelming."

Image via Getty, Emmanuel Dunand

Google Breaks First Ad for Moto X Smartphone

It looks like Google is playing up its "made in America" credentials just as Apple appears to bedoubling down on a similar strategy.

Google's Motorola unit is planning to break ads for its Moto X phone on July 3 in The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, according to Advertising Age. The ad, fromDroga5, bills X as the "first smartphone designed, engineered and assembled in the U.S." Tagline: "Designed by you. Assembled in the USA."

The "designed by you" is a reference to the phone's ability to be customized to fit each consumer's personality, VP-Global Brand and Product Marketing Brian Wallace told AdAge.

Image courtesy of Google

Dove Latest Ad Asks: 'Why Are Women Camera Shy?

Dove has followed up its hugely successful "Real Beauty Sketches" campaign with another video that makes a similar point: Many woman tend to be uncomfortable about their appearances.

The 60-second spot, from Ogilvy & Mather, London, shows various women dodging the camera to jazzy strains of "Peek-A-Boo" by Rose Murphy. Although the ad's tone is lighthearted, it makes a serious point: "When did you stop thinking you were beautiful?"

"Sketches," which the Unilever brand released in April, became the most-watched ad ever a month later, according to the company. That ad, created by Ogilvy's Brazil office, featured women describing their appearances to a police sketch artist. The sketches turned out to be much less attractive than those based on descriptions provided by the women's acquaintances.

Image courtesy of YouTube, Dove