I Want To Be... A Digital Marketing Manager!
[ 14 October 2008 ]
Alice Judge-Talbot, as well as being super-sassy & cute with a drink in her hand, works for VICE magazine as their Digital Marketing Manager. She emailed me saying…
“I’d hope my story could be quite inspiring as I kind of screwed up at school, dropped out of Uni (getting in a lot of crap with my parents along the way…) but I came out smiling at the end of it!”
I love any girl who manages to triumph over the odds, & as her job sounded really interesting too, of course I had to interview her!
Tell us about what you do.
I work as VICE UK’s Digital Marketing Manager. My role basically boils down to getting as much traffic as possible to our two sites – Viceland and VBS TV. This is done in a number of ways – working with online and offline partners, managing Social Networking sites (such as Facebook and Myspace) and dealing with online PR. At the moment I’m developing a Facebook Application which is going to be very cool! It’s also my job to liaise with other Marketeers at VICE all over the world to make sure we’re all working in a similar way – at the moment I’m speaking to VICE USA quite frequently.
How long ago did you start on this path?
I guess you could say I’ve been on this path since I was ten! That was when my dad first bought a computer with good old 56k internet. Soon after I discovered the wonders of HTML, and taught myself using source codes pulled of the web and HTML books from the library. The first page I ever built was hosted on Geocities, then I migrated to Gurlpages and finally to a subdomain on a friend’s site – girlracer.org. After a couple of years of free pages I convinced my parents to let me spend my pocket money on a domain and I’ve never looked back – I’ve had my own websites ever since (currently at thealice.co.uk though this is only being used for testing). I would like to point out that I wasn’t a total loser when growing up – I lived in the rural British countryside and there was not a lot to do.
How long were you doing it before you made it into your career or primary form of income?
I first got paid to build a website when I was fifteen, and I continued to work for friends whilst I was in education. I finally made it my primary source of income about a year and a half ago, when I became Marketing and Sales Manager of a small Telecommunications company in Nottingham. Being a web-designer never crossed my mind – I’m not particularly gifted at design and there are plenty of people out there who can do it better than me. I’m lucky that I grew up as the internet was starting to boom as there are so many more jobs out there these days involving the internet – not just web design.
Did anything significant happen to get you to that point, or was it a series of small steps?
It’s definitely been a series of small steps. Mostly lots and lots of learning as I’m working and convincing my employers to let me have a go at bits and pieces as I’ve been going along. Luckily you don’t have to pay for a lot of Internet Marketing unless it works, so it’s never been a particular problem for my employers to let me have a go.
Do you think official qualifications are important for someone entering your industry?
Definitely not. I spent a year studying for a degree at University but dropped out because I wasn’t enjoying it. I think I’m in a much better position career-wise now than all my friends who studied hard at their particular professions for three or four years; I’m not in any debt and I’ve managed to climb quite high in my field.
The digital industry is so new and fast-moving – there are new ways to exploit it all the time. And one of the beauties of it is that you can learn it all online and on-the-job.
What do you think is the best thing about what you do?
Seriously, the fact I get to sit on the internet all day long makes me very happy. I also love working with other creative people and learning new things every day. I also love the portability of this job; I can do it anywhere I take my MacBook.
What’s the worst thing?
Umm, well there is a lot of socialising and networking with this job, and this often involves cocktails. Staring at a computer screen for 9 hours the morning after is not my idea of a good time.
Rate how happy you are with what you do out of 100 (100 being the best, 0 being devastatingly awful) on an average day.
It definitely ranges from 85-100, depending on the day I’m having. Yes, really.
Would you call yourself a workaholic, & if so, are you alright with that? Do you think that’s normal for your industry?
I’m not one of those people who works 9-5, goes home and completely forgets about work until the next morning. I love immersing myself in my work and will quite happily slog away at it until it’s done, even if that means I’m working at home or taking calls at the pub. If that means I’m a bit of a workaholic then that’s fine – I would rather do that than be bored in a job I wasn’t interested in. I think it is fairly normal in the industry – working with America means there’s only a slot of about four hours when we’re both at work so I will often email them during the evening.
What would your number one suggestion be for someone who wants to do what you do?
Hmm…. I’d say to learn as much as you can on your own time. Build your own site, market it, play with it. Even if you don’t have a lot of content to promote pick something you’re interested in and build the site around that. There is a niche for everything these days – cookery, cats, photography.
...How about number two?
Look at others around you who are successful. What are they doing right? Emulate them, learn from them.
What do you wish you had known when you first started out?
That money isn’t everything. I’m still trying to learn this!
Are there any major misconceptions about your job or industry?
That it’s full of geeks – it’s not!
What motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing?
Meeting so many new people all the time is really great… the highlight was a meeting at Urban Outfitters where I was waiting in a room of male models there for a model casting. Amazing!
Who do you look up to within your industry & why?
I really look up to the women who run websites on their own – Dooce, Style Bubble and Gala Darling to name a few!
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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OMG, this is so me!!!
Alice is awesome n_n. I’d love to work on something internet related. Web and coding is my passion.
Thanks Gala!
i am going to have to agree with the first commenter. this is so me. so is doing what i wish i was doing (although I do love what i do, design) and her experience getting into computers and the internet sounds a lot like mine. :D
sounds like a cool job.
I never would have even known that it existed.
cheers gala. xx
Haha I started out on Geocities too…that seems so long ago now!
Great interview :)
Sounds amazing! Haha, the good old times on Geocities.
It’s great to hear that she’s doing a job she loves & didn’t have to go to uni to get there – it’s irritating having so much pressure at school to go to uni.
Blossom Clothing has moved!
Visit www.bellefantaisie.net to whet your appetite that is all things fashion! Comment and you will be added to the blog roll in exchange.
Lovex
I have a lot in common with this girl :]
and she’s cute too, introductions needed! haha
great interview Gala
great job. is cool to know about unusual, new jobs that sound so fun! she sounds truly happy about her life and thats great :)
I also love to hear about not having a degree and have success nevertheless (a concept strange for my country…everyone has to have a career =/)
Love her! I am actually at university and planning to stay here (I’m starting to love it!), but I find her attitude so refreshing. Especially as I’m surrounded by the hectic pace of studying for exam after exam and watching many of my classmates lose sleep and skip meals to cram in extra study time…I guess what I’m saying is it’s nice to hear from someone so grounded and content, it puts things in persepctive.
Great article — this totally sounds like the kind of job that would suit me! I especially love the idea of all the socialising and networking involved. :)
but what IS a digital marketing manager? I’m lost. (Blinks owlishly).
Gala.
You are seriously amazing.
& I love your knack of coming out with an article EXACTLY when I need it.
I’ve been thinking about doing something in PR or marketing for a while now (being an events coordinator also appeals to me), especially where I would be helping new & emerging artists, designers or musicians, but wanted to find out more about the industry from people who actually work in it.
Thanks for the fantastic interview Alice, & you are totally an inspiration to me. I’m even more determined to work in this field now.
xo
wow!
that was awesome! great information! What a beautiful gift you two just shared with the universe. The inspiration and the knowledge just filled my heart!
I have been staying focused, and learning, and trying to do just that! Great advice!
just sitting here thinking how happy I am that I met you on Give it to me Raw and that Dhrumi d me on twitter to make sure we met. :)
as always! super fantastic!
georgette
gala,
you should do a ‘i want to be’ .. on your self.
(:
this was super.
xoxo
i second that Curls.
OMG! I want to go drinking with Alice! She sounds cool
Ooh I third that Curls! Even though a lot of the answers could probably be found by searching iCiNG, I’m sure everyone would be interested in your own answers to the interview questions Gala!
This sounds really interesting, and kind of what I have been into recently, playing around and building my own sites. I have been wanting to know what sort of jobs are out there for people who do this besides website designer. Unfortunately Alice’s site was down. Also, I love Vice mag and vbs tv has some cool interviews. I liked the one about handicap pets.
oooo interesting!
i wish we could see someone with a job in nutrtion hint hint ;)
That’s awesome, I too have been messing around with HTML since I was young (12 or so) building websites for friends bands etc. I screwed up at school and dropped out of uni twice and ran away to the otherside of the country where I co-manage my boyfriend and my musically-centralised art project/label. The internet PR is so much fun and it’s great connecting! The money isn’t exaclty flowing but at least we’re cutting our losses which is great for so early on :)
I really enjoy reading stories of people who are successful in their professional lives after having screwed up in school. It proves a point! x
Thanks for this, I love Vice magazine!
gala, seriously thanks for posting, you always post something relevant to what your readers have in mind. I know this is random but I am interested in perhaps seeing a how to be a mortician. like what does it take on their part and schooling and so on… just putting that out there.
I’m a huge fan of school and have had loads of it myself, but always love to hear about women who have abandoned academia to launch successful careers. Following the beaten path isn’t for everyone! Alice is an inspiration, and a fabulously cheeky gal to boot.
Hi Gala,
I love your “I want to be…” articles!! Could you possibly do an I want to be a make-up artist in the future? Thanks _