ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Illinois State University – Normal, IL
MBA: International Marketing
Monmouth College – Monmouth, IL
B.A.: Business Administration & Economics Double Major, Political Science Minor
MARKETING BACKGROUND
Agency Marketing Career Summary 2000-Present
Directed teams of up to 25 people in different marketing fields for various integrated marketing and public relations, and SEO/SEM agencies in Chicago and Houston. I am one of the most experienced integrated marketing experts in Chicago.
Client Portfolio
Out of the almost 100 past and present clients, below is a list of well known brand clients by industry include:
Insurance: Allstate
Education: DePaul, USC Cinema Dept., Roosevelt, TIU
Health: Rush, Northshore, Children’s Memorial, CarePages, Steroid.com
Professional Services: Hudson, True Partners Consulting, Nimlok
Real Estate: Ryland, American INVESCO
E-commerce: CDW, Pampered Chef, Bellydance Maternity, Swimsuitsforall, Printable Promotions
Industrial: Rustoleum, Misumi, MPE, SlipNOT,
Finance: Trading Technologies, CBOE, ICE, Ballista, Trademonster, FX Solutions, Alphametrix
Success Highlights
- Concept designed first ever twitter integration for an online stock brokerage, Trademonster. This concept brings in 10-15 new trading accounts a day according to the CEO of the company.
- Doubled the overall traffic (millions/month) of Pampered Chef in 9 months through social media and viral marketing
- Built the first ever Social Media Press Release website for a major American exchange (CBOE)
- Wrote the first SEO Guidelines for a global recruiting company, Hudson (Nasdaq: HHGP). Created a Local Business Listing marketing plan for their global offices in 30+ countries that increased traffic to their global offices 500%+.
- Managed Advertising campaign strategy and social media guidelines for the largest commodity exchange (ICE)
- Highest local non-brand search traffic for local realty offices in Chicago, Dallas, Tampa, Las Vegas, and many others.
- Led an SEO, viral social media & video syndication for Steroid.com. Result: 110K+ forum members, tens of thousands of video views. Top #3 Google rank for all related competitive keywords.
2008-Present Vivid Ascent (Integrated Marketing Director)
I am currently the Integrated Marketing Director for Vivid Ascent. Vivid Ascent is a young company that was created from the merger of a traditional 20 year old public relations company (Strategics Inc.) and an interactive marketing company (Brand Clariti). I manage all integrated marketing projects from concept to completion for many household brands and Fortune 500 companies.
2007-2008 Marcel Media (SEO Engineer)
I managed the SEO department for Marcel Media, the first Google Analytics Certified agency in Chicago. I supervised a team of 25 and a wide roster of over 40 clients including universities, hospitals and major corporations.
2007 LocalLaunch! (currently DexKnows) SEO Specialist
SEO Specialist in the Premium SEO Department of LocalLaunch!.
2004-2007 Online Marketing Consultant – Real Estate Industry
Managed SEO/PPC campaigns for a variety of real estate brokerages around the country.
2000-2004 Marketing Project Manager – Web Across America
A marketing project manager for A Texas based business consulting and project management company specialized in technology, import/export & product branding. Before September 11 2001, it was a major subcontractor for automation of national airports such as Phoenix, LAX, and Charlotte. After September 11, the focus of the company went towards security automation and wireless internet marketing technology services for hospitality industry. I provided marketing, business development and marketing consulting services for current and new customers. Prepare month-, quarter- and year-end performance reports and look for potential contractors for upcoming projects from various sources. Involved in project planning, bid management and marketing pitch. Executed marketing plans or all the stages of new franchising and affiliate or reseller based e-commerce marketing clients and technology product import exporters.
LATEST SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Chicago Online Marketing Meetup Group (03/23/2010) Advanced SEO Link Marketing – “Mert probably forgets about SEO more in a year than I can learn.”- Rey Villar
- Thintank Live (02/23/2010) – “Mert is a headlining speaker/trainer for our events. Mert is the consummate “idea man” who blends his mastery of integrated marketing and business strategy with practical applications for real-world results.” – Mary Duquaine, Event Organizer
- Chicago Search Engine Optimization Meetup (02/10/2010) – “One of the best meetups we’ve had in a while. Thanks to Mert for leading a great discussion on link building strategies and tactics!” – Bryson Meunier, Meetup Organizer
COMPUTER SKILLS
Software
- Microsoft Office, Dreamweaver, Adobe Applications, SPSS
Analytics Applications
- Omniture, Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Microsoft adCenter
Private SEO/SEM Tools
- Click Equations, Adgooroo, Conductor, Covario, SEOMoz tools, along with others.
Web Project Management Experience with below Languages
- HTML, PHP, ASP, Ajax, Javascript, Flash, Flex, HTML
Content Management Systems
- WordPress, Drupal, Ektron, Magenta, DotNetNuke
OTHER SKILLS
Languages: English (Native), Turkish (Native), Spanish (Basic)
License:Illinois Real Estate Broker
References: Available upon request