Are You An SEM Burnout?

Christine Churchill has an interesting column on Search Engine Land called Ten Strategies For Avoiding Search Marketing Burnout. I, for one, was caught off guard by the title, thinking "Search marketing burnout? It's an oxymoron!" I can't think of a field I'd rather be working in than search marketing - it's perpetually interesting, changing, growing - and where else do you get an opportunity to make an immediate impact on ROI?

Then I read the article, and it made sense. Owning your own business, whether it's an SEM firm or any other, is stressful. There is always the temptation to do just a little bit more - and many people end up working all the time, with no down time. In SEM, as in many industries, there is always more to do, and successful entrepreneurs want to get that extra edge by doing more than their competitors. It's what makes them successful - and what burns them out.

The article has several tried-and-true tips for finding balance in your life, which is always a good thing. Reading through the tips, I realize I'm already doing all those things. Even though I don't own my own business, our agency is growing so fast that there is, like I said, always more to do. I suppose keeping the balance is what's keeping me so interested in my SEM career instead of burning out. If you're feeling burned out, take Christine's advice and nip that burnout in the bud.

At The Google Ann Arbor Client Summit

I've been working in Ann Arbor for almost 5 months now, and yet this is the first chance I've had to visit the Ann Arbor Googleplex. I was lucky enough to be invited to Google's Ann Arbor Client Summit, a one-day (plus one evening) event designed to teach us about all the Google products, as well as meet Googlers and other advertisers.

The event began this evening with a mixer at the Google office. While nowhere near as huge as the Mountain View plex, it's still very cool - on-site fitness, cool conference rooms named after various Michigan cities and locales, and a very cool cafeteria / party room called the Battle Creek Grill. I stepped off the elevator and was greeted by my former Adwords team - it was great to see Greg, Ursula, Angela and Brian again and catch up on all the latest happenings. I also met some cool guys from ProCPR in Grand Rapids, and some other guys that came all the way from Houston.

Tomorrow, we'll be learning more about Content, YouTube, Traditional Media, Checkout, and other Google offerings. Should be a good day of learning and networking.