I threw folks a bit of a curve with round 7 of the Guess the internet Marketing Site game by using a site many have not yet heard of, The PPC Book by Jeff Hudson. Jeff does a great job with his blog where he writes about pay per click and internet marketing with no extra spin included. In order for you and I to get to know Jeff a little better I asked him the following questions.

Q: You have had your blog going for over a year now, tell us about theppcbook.com and how you like blogging.

• At the time I started blogging there really wasn’t much out there for paid search, all the blogs were focused on SEO, so it was more of a effort to bring attention to the people who work within PPC niche of search marketing. Like most bloggers who have to pay bills the challenge is to find the time to make relevant, useful posts. I always focus on clients first, and I only post when I have downtime (which is never), or when I’m particularly worked up about something (often).

Q: Could you share a bit of your work background, it looks like you have worked with some very interesting and well known online companies, most recently with Local Launch.

• For someone who didn’t really like computers (studio arts major at the U), I seem to have made a career out of them. My first ‘real job’ was creating print ads for Sesame Street Live (Vee Corporation). Around that time the internet became mainstream, and the site we built for them will probably go down as one of the top 5 worst websites ever created. I wish I could find it on archive.org, but they don’t even go back that far. I graduated from there to my first real ‘internet’ company, working as a producer for AOL DigitalCities, which was the local AOL play. The Minneapolis office was on 4th street, I believe. I really enjoyed the people and the company, I felt like I learned something new every day. They phased that office out eventually and I went to work for the Microsoft competitor, Sidewalk. Cendant, a company out of Chicago was managing the production, and I had to move there for the position. After that project was completed I moved into a position at MyPoints, a company that pioneered online loyalty programs. I learned a lot about customer acquisition, LTV, monetization, etc. I stayed for almost 3 years and went through the whole internet IPO rise and fall bubble thing there. They were eventually purchased by United Airlines. After Coolsavings, which was similar to MyPoints, I kind of fell into Locallaunch, which was started by a very talented group of guys. I began there as a PPC Analyst, and eventually ran the SEM Client Services division, handling PPC and SEO for their larger clients. After they were purchased by RH Donnelly I decided to forge out on my own. I have a lot of practical, hands-on experience that clients can appreciate . I’ve done well so far and have a small but growing and loyal client list.

Q: I see you recently moved to Minneapolis, what brought you to Minnesota?

• Other than the winters? Actually, quality of life and family. I love it here, and have been working on convincing my wife for probably 5 years. All it took was a trip up near the boundary waters 2 years ago and the wheels were in motion. We just moved to a great neighborhood by Lake Harriet, people are so nice here, and I have a yard for my son to run around in. Can’t beat it.

Q: Is there any other news or items you would like to share?

• I’m looking forward to learning more about the search marketing industry here in Minnesota. There’s a diverse economy here and a lot of focus on creativity, which is great to see. The company that I started in February is SEM Visibility (semvisibility.com). We handle SEM clients directly and also function as a 3rd party to agencies who need to outsource SEM services.

Thanks Jeff for the use of your site in the game and also sharing a bit about you and your business. The PPC Book is now in my Google Reader list!