My mind is racing a mile a minute and I am unsure as to why. I am trying to get everything as organized a possible so that while I am out of the office next week everything runs smoothly. I have composed a rather detailed email that explains everything that is going on from my perspective and someone has been assigned to check my email and handle my responsibilities for me.

Every time I take a moment to stop and think of what I may have missed I realize how silly this seems. Here at DDA, we have a system in place that keeps everyone who is involved with a project in the loop as to what stage that project is on and everyone here is more than capable to assume someone else’s responsibilities with ease.

The worst job I ever had was as a cashier at a supermarket. The monotony of standing on the rubber mat, scanning can after can, waiting for the next person to arrive, was not for me. I am a person that cannot stand still and who needs to be occupied at all times.

Which makes DDA a good fit for me. Though you can argue that I spend a large part of my day in front of a computer, I can assure it is never just staring at the screen. There is rarely a dull moment and I certainly never have to wait for the people to arrive.

At the moment, I have a handful of requests from existing clients, for whom I act as Project Coordinator, involving flash programming, search engine optimization, traditional programming, and web work. I have two websites that are just beginning — one will be highly search engine optimized and is in the keyword research phase and another is at the design level — and a highly-involved ordering system that is on its way to completion, with proofing that needs to be arranged.

I have a few inquiries that I am trying to arrange either an estimate or  conference call for, a quote that needs to go out, two conference calls, and several follow-up e-mails that need to be sent out. That is in addition to the requests for work that will come in throughout the day either by e-mail or phone.

I also have proofing to do, a direct-mail piece that needs to be written, and an outline that needs to be prepared.  It’s a hectic day, as always. And I am not alone. I am in good company with my fellow three writers, as well as everyone else — the graphic designers, programmers, web developers, videographers, animators, and search engine marketing and optimization teams. Just another day in the life of DDA.

And I most certainly am not complaining.  I like the fast-paced atmosphere and a job that constantly challenges me. It’s a far cry from the rubber mat I once stood on scanning frozen peas, but I’m OK with that.

Every evening after leaving DDA, I pull into my driveway at 6:20 p.m., give or take a few minutes, and the first words out of my mouth are “What’s for dinner?”

Usually I receive a blank stare from my fiancee and a “I don’t know, what are you making?” It may seem silly but condsidering that he is usually home 2-3 hours before me I don’t think it would hurt for him to cook some dinner. When I have to make dinner after getting in from DDA we are lucky if we eat by 7:30 p.m.

On one hand it bothers me that we eat dinner so late, on the other there are days where I wish I got home earlier. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t want to give up our 4-day work week and having off on Fridays.

I get the majority of the house chores out of the way on Fridays. Without having off on Fridays my home would be very chaotic. Four days is just enough to handle a weeks worth of production coordination, print production, SEO reports, SEM campaigns, and invoicing.

With a staff of degreed copywriters, DDA has the unique ability to write custom content to help optimize your website for search engines. One of the many copywriting services we offer are press releases and news articles. Why should you care about these often overlooked services? Here is how custom articles and press releases can help your website in search engine optimization:

• Promotion. Best of all, these articles and press releases offer free promotion for your company or website. It can tell the world the various services you offer or just help explain your company. Either way, it is additional quality content that can link back to your website.
• Back links. News sites are one of the easiest ways to gain direct links from other sites. Not only does Google rank you higher based on the amount of quality back links your site has, but it also likes when the website receives a constant, ongoing series of back links.
• Relevance. Not only does the article provide your site with additional content to use, but it also makes your site much more relevant to the present time. If you submit multiple articles, to constant movement of updates and news releases will show Internet users that your company is relevant to today’s fast-paced environments.

There are many ways articles and news feeds can help improve your website. Let DDA and its experienced team of copywriter’s help promote you with the full variety of services we offer.

Over the weekend my fiancee was filling out an online form and needed to fill out my personal information as well. When it came to my employer’s information, question after question was asked — What’s the address? Phone number? How long have you been there? What’s your title?

When it came to tell him my title of SEO specialist (and the repeating it…S E O Specialist) he looked clueless.

Sure he knows that I work on websites all day but he is an electrician and not very computer savvy. Watching him hunt and peck my information into the computer was funny, especially since typing on a keyboard without looking is second nature to me.

Although we each have our own titles here at DDA, the name sometimes isn’t long enough. If you would try to list everything that each one of us does as our titles, the list would be endless.

Being a Search Engine Optimization specialist at DDA, a search engine marketing company in Southampton, PA, means that I am constantly fighting the uphill battle of improving website rankings in major search engines. Working in a world of meta tags and Dreamweaver can be a battle in itself, but I push onward and upward. The results are seen when my client’s rankings on Google climb closer and closer to the coveted #1 position.

You can see DDA’s success in Google with our numerous website rankings.

Lately it has amazed me how quickly the days are flying by. My daughter just turned 9 and celebrated her First Holy Communion. It seems like just yesterday I was counting down the days until my due date.

The same can be said for the days that I have worked at DDA, a graphic design company. This year marks 12 years that I have been working with this company. I still remember getting a phone call from my older sister who was then a Graphic Designer with DDA. I was home from school and was asked if I could come in and help put together a product catalog that was designed by DDA. Before working here, I never really used computers. Then I became proficient on a Mac. Over the years, I was in charge of mailing lists, software, data entry, proofreading, and many other tasks that could look like a laundry list if every aspect was included.

Today, my title is simply a Search Engine Optimization Specialist. This is not something that happened overnight and it wasn’t quite simple either.

Back when I started to learn about the techniques used for website optimization, things were much simpler. But back then, the switch from using a Mac to switching to a PC was my hardest challenge! As each year passed, I became more and more independent in my website optimization. And now, I handle all of these websites each month without a second thought.

So here I am today, three children later, still managing to keep up with the latest search engine marketing and optimization tips and trends. Time flies when you’re having fun! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Everyday when I sit down to write my blog I always think about what it is that I do, so that I can create a relevant post. And everyday I think about how much easier it would be to write about what everyone else does.

I have the same reaction when I am asked by someone about my job. Somedays I feel as though all I do is shuffle papers even though I know this not to be true. My days brings about such a variety that I don’t get to spend long periods of time focused on the same thing, this is probably the reason for the lack of things to write about.

Truthfully I know I am responsible for a great deal; production coordination, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay Per Click (PPC), invoices, print estimates, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) reports. It is just difficult for me to put what I do into words.

At DDA, we have a staff of degreed writers, a video production crew, graphic designers, photographers, programmers, a search engine marketing team, and more to help make your product amazing. However, we also encourage plenty of client feedback along the way so that we can provide you with something you’re happy with. For example, during video production, we will send you a draft of the script, allow you to respond with any feedback, and update the script as often as necessary to ensure we are giving the right, effective message. At the same time, the video team will provide you with design concepts, video clips, and anything else to receive some feedback and improve. So while we can manage any project from start to finish, a large part of the process involves you, the client.

The reason we encourage our clients to provide as much feedback as possible is so that all the appropriate changes can be made in the early stages of the project. Because video or custom programming can take a good amount of time, it is essential for everyone to properly plan before time is spent on the bulk of the project so that we do not run into issues that will further complicate matters. If, for instance, the scope of a programming project is changed after the original has been created, it will take additional time for our programmers to go back to make the necessary changes. This will obviously push the budgets and delay the final product, which is what we do not want to do. With the proper planning and client approval at different stages of development, we can eliminate these last minute changes to meet your deadlines in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Back in the day, when someone asked what I did for a living, well, it was an easy answer, reporter.

Since joining Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA), however, it’s not so easy. To say that I am a writer doesn’t exactly encompass everything I do and to say that I work for a digital advertising agency doesn’t either.

The truth is DDA isn’t that easy to explain in just a few words. I can describe us as a web development company, a video production studio, graphic design, programming, illustration, you name it. If it relates to anything design, digital, or technical, chances are, we can probably claim that name as well.

And then you have to consider our approach to projects. It’s not typically what you think of when you hear the words advertising or marketing. We take an entirely different approach than any other agency, or search engine marketing company, or marketing firm out there.

Ours is a holistic approach, a full-bodied solution in an age where our industry still remains so fragmented. A look at our Executive Summary gives a glimpse at what makes us different but it’s our work that speaks volumes. In all that we do, whether it’s website design and development, integrated video, search engine optimization, or even copywriting, DDA strives to bring innovative and unique solutions to fully meet the needs of our clients.

As expected, when you work for a company that is on the cutting-edge, your job is going to be a bit different as well. Working with so many services under one roof, I am constantly learning about different mediums and technologies and learning how to explain and describe those to my clients.

But perhaps my favorite part is in New Business Development where I get to see the ideas for this innovation just starting to form.

There’s a lot of complexities to DDA and in my job, but that’s OK. Now, I’ve learned that answering the “What do you do for a living?” question will require four more words than before, “Well, let me tell you.”

Everyone at DDA plays multiple roles. One moment I may be a Production coordinator, or a SEM specialist, perhaps a print project estimator, and in my “down time” I am responsible for invoicing completed projects. To assure that we stay on track with our estimates and billing everyone at DDA logs their time spent on a project into the DDA TRAC (time and resource accounting).

As a member of DDA prepares to work on any project, they must first log in to the appropriate TRAC. Each individual project is assigned its own TRAC. The TRAC will log in all time spent on a project, a description of what was done during each time frame that the project was worked on, and what type of work was done. Once a project is complete, all TRACs associated are closed and printed. All TRACs for the same project are put together and the invoice is written up.

Since everyone is responsible for multiple types of work, the TRAC assures that time is billed appropiately for the work. With the Type of Work column, I know what each person did during their time with the project. Invoices are as accurate as possible and there is no chance that you are paying for time that was not spent on your project.