- Also see my LinkedIn profile.
Senior Editor, About.com, New York, NY
February 2005-Present
• Mentored all new About.com Guides in the areas of user experience, web writing, blogging, format, community, newsletters, ecommerce and search engine optimization
• Hired, trained and managed an associate editor to new Guides
• Managed recruitment and training of About.com Guides, which includes a team of an editor and two associate editors
• Trained over 20 About.com editors
• Offered real-time workshops to hundreds of About.com Guides
• Created online training materials that are used by all 700+ About.com Guides
• As a result of a month-long SEO intensive with all Guides, search referrers for About.com hit an all time-high (Google referrers up 50%, Sep 2006 vs Sep 2007; MSN up 68% and Yahoo! up 17% for the same time period)
Editor, About.com, New York, NY
February 2000-July 2001, September 2004-February 2005
• Reviewed the progress of the contract workforce, providing motivational advice and content strategies to promote traffic growth
• Under my supervision, traffic in these areas averaged more than a 50 percent monthly increase, year over year
• Wrote promotional copy for newsletters and channel pages
• Began my career at About.com in 2000 as a coordinator, the responsibilities of which included troubleshooting, HTML, advocacy and technical support roles
Editorial Assistant, Beliefnet, New York, NY
March 2003-September 2004
• Produced 10 daily newsletters, with a distribution of over 4 million subscribers
• Wrote and produced various daily site updates, including the homepage and promotional units
• Increased site-wide ability to offer multimedia content offerings
• Organized and produced large content packages, including collections for Beliefnet’s extensive coverage of “The Passion of the Christ” and an ABC News Peter Jennings special report
• Regularly assisted editors in enhancing their content with photo galleries and more
• Initiated several site-wide changes to improve search engine placement
Communications Coordinator, Edison Schools, Inc., New York, NY
October 2001-August 2002
• Responsible for distribution of press releases to relevant media outlets
• Tracked of company mentions in various U.S. print and broadcast media
• Development, production and maintenance of web site created for publicity related to a new account
• Updated intranet site for the Communications department with useful content and improved functionality
Editorial Page Editor, Daily Free Press, Boston, MA
October 1997- December 1999
• Wrote daily editorials representing the newspaper’s opinion on topics varying from politics and international policy to education and campus issues
• Edited columns and letters to the editor
• Produced the newspaper’s daily opinion section
• Contributed features for the news and entertainment sections
• Also served as the newspaper’s Classified Advertising Manager
Editorial Intern, Rolling Stone Press, New York, NY
June 1999-August 1999
• Researched for the 2000 edition of the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock ‘n’ Roll
• Wrote and edited correspondence with record companies, authors and photographers
• Compiled photography samples for Jailbait book proposal
• Assisted senior editor with research for chapter in a rock ‘n’ roll fashion book
Editorial Intern, St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles, St. Louis, MO
June 1996-August 1997
• Contributed several articles about home improvement and decorating
• Edited and fact-checked many of the magazine’s features
• Reception, office management and sales record-keeping
Other Experience:
Author, Quamut: Bedbugs (Barnes & Noble)
July 2008
• Recruited by Barnes & Noble to write a 7,000-word practical guide to dealing with bedbugs for their new online property, Quamut. To be published online at www.quamut.com in Fall 2008.
SEO Consultant, Nolej Studios, New York, NY
May-June 2007
• Offered SEO strategies to this startup Flash studio, which retains a number of consumer-oriented clients.
Webmaster, BirgittePhilippides.com
October 2005-January 2007
• Created this artist’s first web site, which included several PHP-based image galleries.
• Optimized the site for search. Within a week of the site’s launch, the site was ranking #1 in Google for her name.
Webmaster and Author, A Picture of Me
November 2003-Present
• Among other writings, this personal blog contains a revenue-generating resource about an experience with a 2004 bedbug infestation.
Skills:
Internet user experience, writing, editing, HTML/CSS (expert), FTP, PHP (beginner), JavaScript (beginner), search engine optimization (expert), Microsoft Office, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft IE, Google AdSense, WordPress, Movable Type, Blogger, Wordtracker, Google Webmaster tools, Position Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Audacity.
Education:
Boston University, College of Communication
B.S. in Journalism, 2000