The Path to Results: Cindy McGeever, Online Marketing MBA Course Blogger

My name is Cindy McGeever, and I am a volunteer blogger for the Online Marketing MBA. Follow my journey weekly and use the comments below to ask me questions.

Internet marketing has held an almost obsessive fascination for me since 2005, when a major online retailer hired me to do a nationwide search for an Affiliate Manager. For the past 14 years, I have been an executive recruiter, helping companies find sales and marketing talent at the mid-senior level. When I was hired to do the Affiliate Manager search, I was clueless about how people actually made money on the internet. When I look back, it’s clear to me that particular project changed my life.

To do a search successfully, you have to know what you’re talking about. So, my first step was to get smart about internet marketing. I talked to some of the key thought leaders in the industry at that time, as well as top affiliate marketers – all as background for my search. It was not long before I started probing for information about how I might get into the internet marketing business. Asking about referrals for my search project almost became an afterthought.

In thinking this through, I had some problems. First, the search business is a high margin business. Translation: the money, when the economy is decent, is outstanding. Could I walk away from that? Secondly, I am likely the most technically challenged person you will ever meet. I have been a late adapter of technology all my life. The internet – with its blogs, social media, videos, social bookmarking, etc. etc. was (and in many ways still is) a mystery to me.

After that search was done, I decided I had to build myself an internet business. I did a lot of research around how to build a website, what my “topic” would be, and how I might make money online. I thought about the things I love: golf, travel, cooking. All great topics for a new internet marketing business. But stumbling on some advice about content being king, I came full circle, back to what I know. Recruiting. Never mind that it’s an incredibly competitive space. The entrepreneur in me asked that age-old question: “how hard could it be?” And with that, Top Sales Jobs was born.

For the next few years, Top Sales Jobs took a back seat to my recruiting practice. The financial reality was that search allowed me to maintain my lifestyle (I’m a five-star kind of girl!). But the pull of internet marketing never left me. If I were truly honest, I would tell you that I haven’t been passionate about the search business for a very long time. While I’m good at it, my heart hasn’t been in it for a while. Combine that lack of passion with a declining economy in the U.S., and I was not happy coming to work every day.

In March, 2011, I made a pretty radical decision. I’ve put my search practice on hold and am now focusing 100% of my efforts on internet marketing. Top Sales Jobs does OK, but I know that it can do better. I’m also interested in building multiple streams of revenue online. And, I’m interested in getting a little more aggressive with my marketing efforts. I am motivated by money. My short-term and long-term goals revolve around making enough money to do the things I love to do – golf, travel. Not so much materialistic rewards. More time and quality of life rewards. It is no longer acceptable to me to work at something I don’t love, just as a means to an end.

In making this recent decision, I have found a spark again. I’m learning new things every day. I’ve got learning curves again. At times, it’s incredibly frustrating. But in the end, there is a great sense of accomplishment in figuring out how to move forward.

I have a great business background from a long corporate and entrepreneurial career. I’ve also got pretty good academic credentials. So, why have I chosen to work with Dee and the Online Marketing MBA program? If you’re at all a student of internet marketing, you know that the possibilities seem limitless. There are multiple methods for making money online. For every method, there are multiple tools you can tap into to help you. Managing time, and channeling your work effort to produce tangible results takes much trial and error.

I believe that there is a lot to be learned from people who have been successful. The false starts and some of the mistakes can be minimized by learning from someone who’s already succeeded. I am not a complete newbie. In fact, in some areas, my knowledge runs pretty deep. But, I have not yet achieved the success I want to achieve online. That means that there is learning yet to be done. And from what I’ve seen, the Online Marketing MBA program looks like a great place to start!