About Me

Hi there! I’m Adrienne Doss, although you may know me better as SEO Woman (or perhaps @seowoman).

How I became an internet marketer

I started my career as a print journalist for an alternative newsweekly in Reno, Nevada. I loved to write, but the life of a reporter was not for me. Just before the bottom dropped out of the print industry, I lucked out, got out and got online.

In September 2003, I took an entry-level “webmaster” job for an e-commerce startup. I say “webmaster” in quotes because I was mainly hired to rewrite the manufacturers’ product descriptions. Now I realize that this was my first lesson in copywriting.

Soon, I was put in charge of the pay-per-click campaigns on Yahoo! Search Marketing (then called Overture) and later Google Adwords. I started hand-coding HTML and CSS, designing logos and graphics, studying usability concepts, and just generally getting my hands dirty in every aspect of our online presence.

By the time I left 5 1/2 years later, I knew I had found my calling in internet marketing.

Want the official version? Here’s my resume.

What’s with the alter ego?

One thing I’m learning as I get older is that if you want to be happy, you need to be true to yourself. And the truth is, I’m a bit of a goofball.

I’m also an avid gamer who grew up playing Atari and Texas Instruments game cartridges. I can still vividly remember the first time I saw Super Mario Bros on the Super Nintendo. I fell head over heels for the PlayStation 2 the moment I saw the opening scene of Final Fantasy VII.

A few years later, I picked up my first MMORPG and wasted the next several years of my life slaying dragons. In real life, I can’t cook much more than a grilled cheese sandwich. In the fantasy world of Vana’diel, I was a master chef.

I don’t have much time to play now that I have children and grown-up responsibilities, but I still like to whack mobsters in Mafia Wars and rock out to Guitar Hero every once in a while.

And your point is?

My point. Right.

When I started the SEO Woman blog, I was heavily into EverQuest II. The SEO Woman persona was a fun way to express the gamer part of my personality, while also building a memorable personal brand. The avatar helped me grab people’s attention in an increasingly loud and chaotic digital world.

Check out some other well-known avatars in the search marketing industry.

Questions? Comments?

E-mail adrienne@seowoman.com or contact me here.