IQ Workforce Blog

Thank you to Judah Phillips and the Web Analytics Wednesday crew in Boston for allowing us to sponsor this past Wednesday.

The story that I heard was that Judah, Eric Hansen and a couple of other guys (if you are one of them please leave a comment) started the Boston WAW a few years ago. On Wednesday I counted fifty people at one point, and I was told that this is the norm… so great job.

I gave my “Job Hunting and Career Management in Web Analytics” presentation. It was really interesting to me because I have not given that presentation since August… and the world is a VERY different place now. Some of the best conversation points were around changes to the market over the last few months.

As usual, the best part was having some time to chat and hang out with WA professionals that we have phone and cyber relationships with… WAW is great for this - it is a MUST to have a thriving in-person social networking function in a professional community. Great things happen when people get a chance to shake hands and have a beer together. Ideas and opinions are traded and time is passed in an enjoyable, highly productive way. Attending WAW’s should be a requirement for continuing education credits in web analytics.

I also forgot how much I like Boston - I have not been there since college… it is like New York, but nicer and smaller and friendlier and more charming.

Posted in: Recruiting, Web & Marketing Analytics by Corry Prohens
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Our web analytics contract business has exploded over the past six months. It has gone from 15% of our business to more than 50%…

We have a great network of web analytics professionals (almost certainly the best in the business), but many of these positions need to be filled on short notice. Finding the right person with the right skills at the right time in the right place is a challange.

Conversely, we have a lot of great talent available that we would like to market to the community, but there are only so many hours in the day… so a lot of amazing resumes die on the vine.

Enter the Contractor Exchange!

It is ridiculously simple:
1. Contractors and freelancers post their credentials
2. We screen and approve them
3. We market them to our community of analytics and marketing executives

Independent consultants have a hard time picking up their next gig while they are delivering on their current gig. The Contractor Exchange gives them a way to maintain visibility and keep a flow of opportunities coming through the inbox.

We are also seeing a lot of full-time/permanent WA professionals that are looking for part-time gigs on the side. Since there are plenty of companies out there that need analytics help but can’t afford it on a full-time basis, we are hoping to address that need through the Contractor Exchange.

So if you would like to find a full-time or part-time web analytics gig, come to our site and post your profile.

If you need interim web analytics talent, come and search through our postings.

IQ Workforce Contractor Exchange

Posted in: Recruiting, Web & Marketing Analytics by Corry Prohens
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Of everyone at the conference I am probably the least qualified to write a review. I arrived at eMetrics at 2PM on Wednesday and left at 11am on Thursday. That said, here is my review:

My 21 hours at eMetrics was enough to assure me that the state of web analytics in the US is strong. I know that my team is busy (contractors!), but I was keen to read the vibe on the practitioners and vendors.

No doubt this conference trailed the last one (in San Fran) in terms of raw enthusiasm. The industry was exploding within a healthy economy at that point (or at least we thought it was healthy). It was hard to imagine what could slow the web analytics rocket and participants were practically giddy. That WAW with 400+ people in that club in San Fran was unbelievable.

This one was more sober. The industry feels like it has matured over the last 6-months, through this period of high anxiety. We are all taking each other’s pulse because we read about 7,000 layoffs at Amex and 25% of ford employees losing their jobs and, and, and…

There was buzz about Webtrends turning in a record quarter. Go Webtrends!?!

There was the ever growing author’s club making the rounds, including Tim Ash with his new book on optimization. Free signed copies! Thank you Tim.

We had Jim Sterne, looking more and more like the statesman of the web analytics nation, making the rounds and making the whole thing go. Sterne for President!

We had Eric Peterson running the WAW, presenting and being Eric Peterson

I finally got to chat with June Dershowitz (good luck!), Justin Cutroni, Elizabeth Robillard, Jen Day, Matt Bailey, Claudia P and a dozen others IN PERSON.

There were the agencies, the vendors and the practitioners - all drinking the same coffee and taking each other’s pulse.

At the end of the day, it looks like everybody is still busy. Companies are still hiring web analysts, vendors are still selling products and services and the web analytics ecosystem seems to be thriving.

There is a lot of new talent coming into the space. Areas of expertise are being formed and people are developing specialties within the space and branding / positioning themselves and their companies in those areas. Acquisitions, product launches, major product enhancements (GA), convergence with BI data, mobile analytics, testing, BTargeting… all under way. Good stuff - evolutionary.

My 21 hours were very well spent. Thank you all.

Posted in: Recruiting, Web & Marketing Analytics by Corry Prohens
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No, not the movie.
No, not the financial industry.

The other perfect storm - the web analytics and online marketing contract market!

As with those other storms, there are many forces converging on these communities that are creating a real shift in the way work is getting done…

Force #1: Maturity
The web analytics, SEO and SEM communities are maturing to the point where there is finally a critical mass of professionals out there that have enough skills and experience to “go independent” or at least to freelance on the side.

Force #2: Income Opportunity
Simple fact: contractors make more than employees. Significantly more. In an economy like this (or any other) that is a good thing. Another simple fact is that a lot of our spouses are losing their jobs or seeing their incomes decrease. When you keep hearing that there are freelance opportunities out there, eventually people put up there hand and say that they can handle another 5, 10, 15 hours/week of work.

Force #3: Steady/High Demand
The web analytics and online marketing spaces have not been battered the way the rest of the economy has. For good reason… online spending and online advertising is STILL growing at a healthy pace - far outpacing the rest of the economy… plus there is greater pressure in bad times to increase ROI on marketing dollars, so analytics and smarter SEO & SEM becomes vital…

Force #4: Hiring Freezes
Either formally or informally many companies are pulling back the reigns on spending and hiring. Every req for a new head is being scrutinized. Even if the company does eventually agree to budget for a new web analytics or online marketing position, the longer approval process + the still-lengthy recruiting process creates a big gap during which the work is not getting done. Bring in the contractors!

So the good news in the web analytics and online marketing communities is that demand is still quite high for your skills and experience. The other good news is that there is a new way for many professionals to supplement their income or direct their careers.

The bad news is that contractors and hiring managers have a very hard time finding each other in the right place at the right time.

Hopefully that is where we come in…

Posted in: Recruiting, Web & Marketing Analytics by Corry Prohens
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Just booked my travel for eMetrics in DC - really looking forward to going. The last one that we went to in San Fran was great, but it is such a haul and I lose a day on each side… DC should be awesome.

They are already calling for the largest web analytics wednesday in history, which at this point is really saying something. I was at the one in San Fran in July and it was ridiculous (in a good way). It kind of seemed like an exclamation point as the industry was reaching a fever pitch.

I am really looking forward to seeing what the mood is like at this conference, with all that is going on in the economy, the election, etc… everyone I talk to is saying that business is going strong in web analytics, but I am predicting a more tempered enthusiasm at this conference - it is just a more sober period (and we will be in Washington!).

I am also being a little bit more organized about how I plan my time there this time around. I am going with a list of people that I want to make sure to meet up with for quick cups of coffee… at the end I will be wired, but at least I will miss fewer people this time.

and I am going with an agenda to sign up new Web Analytics Rock Stars to contribute to our popular “rock stars blog”. Would like to leave the conference with 5 new contributors that each bring a different perspective to the blog.

Other than that I am going to party like it is 1999… I had more energy and more hair in 1999…

Posted in: Web & Marketing Analytics by Corry Prohens
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