LURN INC.; Gaithersburg, Md., 2009-2010
Lurn provided a range of products and services for Internet marketers, including online training courses, individual coaching, live events, online communities, publications, and e-learning technology platforms. A recent change in Lurn’s business model away from online education and training toward software development impacted my position.
Director, Editorial
- Improved search engine results of company blog, scoring top-ten Google results for target keywords and keyphrases.
- Delivered more than 800 online courses, training documents and videos, on strategy and on budget. Subject matter included Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising, Social Media, Affiliate Marketing and Internet Marketing best practices.
- Developed style guidelines and templates for content creation, which facilitated efficient and cost-effective content creation and assured product quality.
- Edited all training content for quality, accuracy, and relevance before publication, increasing customer satisfaction with Lurn’s products.
- Managed team of seven editorial, video and graphics professionals. Retooled team processes with a focus on customer satisfaction, high performance, skill development and accountability.
KELLOGG COMPANY; Battle Creek, Mich., 2007 – 2009
One of the world’s leading cereal, snack and convenience food producers, Kellogg’s 2008 sales totaled nearly $13 billion. The company markets in 180 countries and employs nearly 32,000 people.
Senior Manager, Internal Communications
- Increased external staffing website traffic by 20 percent and improved user experience through content refresh.
- Reduced communications clutter by redirecting print communications to online channels.
- Aligned stakeholders around company goals by promoting revised company mission and vision statements.
- Promoted stakeholder engagement and drove efficiency by establishing communications strategy for culture-building initiatives.
- Improved employee awareness of environmental sustainability by building and implementing cross-media communications plan.
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CONSUMER PRODUCTS; Glendale, Calif., 2004 – 2007
This segment of The Walt Disney Company licenses apparel, toys, home decor, books and magazines, food, stationery and electronics. It also manages the company’s retail chains. Disney Consumer Products generates $30 billion in retail sales and is focused on product innovation, creativity, quality, and building relationships with key retailers.
Manager, Communications
- Improved year-over-year global user adoption of company intranet (+25 percent to nearly 100 percent), licensee extranet (+60 percent) and media/corporate info site (+153 percent).
- Increased frequency of traffic to website with executive blog. More than 60 percent of target audience visited site within five days of posting.
- Developed social media-savvy communications strategy to support halo marketing initiatives (Bloc 28 by Disney, Kirstie Kelly for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings).
- Drove stakeholder awareness of Disney/Pixar’s Cars franchise, which reached more than $1 billion in retail sales in its first year.
- Built stakeholder confidence in Disney business plan through global editorial program, which aligned internal and external audiences around franchise objectives, best practices and cross-functional collaboration.
- Reached key influencers by maximizing search ranking on Disney’s enterprise websites (top five for relevant searches).
- Drove traffic to websites and reinforced key messages about company priorities by improving weekly e-mail newsletters for employees and licensees.
- Increased user satisfaction with websites by establishing divisional editorial voice and tone as well as effective content strategy.
- Improved efficiency of lean, productive team of direct reports, freelancers and global contributors by establishing and maintaining consistent editorial workflow and processes across multiple websites.
VISTEON CORPORATION, Dearborn, Mich., 2001 – 2004
At time of spin-off from Ford Motor Company, Visteon was a $19 billion global automotive supplier. With more than 80 percent of the company’s business coming from one customer, the organization was focused on diversifying its customer base.
Internet Content Manager
- Improved the length of user visits to Visteon.com by establishing consistent tone, style and voice for website copy.
- Improved site traffic by utilizing keywords and meta data to maximize search results. Visteon.com was top 10 for all of its major product categories on Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL.
- Drove efficiency and promoted collaboration while supervising creative agency on projects and day-to-day content maintenance.
- Improved awareness with key influencers through highly targeted e-mail marketing campaigns (60 percent click-through).
- Reduced creative agency budget 10 percent annually while maintaining high quality of work.
AMERICAN BLIND AND WALLPAPER FACTORY, Plymouth, Mich., 1999 – 2001
This dynamic, entrepreneurial retailer was focused on transitioning its brand and building on its core categories by adding rugs, furniture, paint, lighting and home accessories.
Online Copywriter
- Increased site traffic by optimizing copy to maximize SEO results (achieved top 10 results in targeted keyword searches).
- Generated $1.1 million incremental sales per campaign by editing copy and managing production of successful e-mail initiative.
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1994 – 1999
Editor/Writing Instructor
