Mike Branson Consulting

From June 2011 to June 2012 I was a content writer at Cheaper Than Dirt! in Fort Worth, Texas. I consistently wrote high quality articles for that company’s blog, contributed heavily to their Facebook and Twitter campaigns, and represented the company on AR15.com, the world’s largest firearms website. I also did photography and image manipulation to be included in conjunction with social media marketing campaigns. Examples of my work for Cheaper Than Dirt! may be found here. During my tenure at CTD, traffic to the company’s blog increased by over 225%. Analytics done through Google and Jetpack showed that my content was generating the equivalent of my salary in gross sales every three months or so.  In June 2012 I was let go from CTD at the behest of leadership personnel who did not even know my name or work product.  Rather than discuss the circumstances, I will simply point out that my supervisor and her supervisor (my boss’s boss, I always liked to say) are the first two people listed as references on my CV. My time at CTD was wonderful and prepared me for greater challenges in the future.

Social Media Marketing

Cheaper Than Dirt!                    

June 2011-  June 2012

Content Writer, Legal Restrictions Manager, Social Media Content Creator, Customer Service Coordinator, AR15.com representative, Photographer

• Wrote an average of one 1,000 word article every two days for publication at “The Shooters Log” located at www.cheaperthandirt.com/blog. Topics included product reviews, legal analysis, how-to, biographies, book and movie reviews, holidays and historic events, all designed to drive web traffic to the main e-commerce site. 40 of my best articles are available on request as proof of work product.
• Input significant amounts of content to Facebook and Twitter as part of a successful drive to reach 100,000 followers on Facebook. Consistently wrote informative and entertaining tidbits such as “What’s It Wednesday” and “Tech Tip Tuesday”, while answering technical, customer service, and business related questions posted via those programs. All of this successfully engaged CTD’s customer base in online interaction with a real person who shared their interests and concerns.
• Assisted in managing “restrictions” on new inventory for sale. Referencing a master list of which types of items cannot be sold in various states and cities, each new inventory item must be categorized and restrictions applied before it can go up for sale. Technically this involved interfacing MS Excel spreadsheets with CTD’s mainframe inventory management system. Legally, one mistake or error could lead to an illegal sale. I “restricted” hundreds of new inventory items each week.
• Managed the “Cheaperthandirt” account on AR15.com, the world’s largest firearms forum. Answering questions, dealing with customer service issues, and responding to criticism in a forthright way, I helped rehabilitate CTD’s reputation in the eyes of that online community. Net revenue directly attributed to AR15.com ads and promotions exceeded my annual salary every two months, so this was an important “side job” that required daily monitoring.
• Product photography and processing of photos using Photoshop CS4 and CS5 was part and parcel of my blog writing. Most watermarked photos included in my articles were both taken and processed by me, either in my home studio or on location.
• Once a month I was seconded to the print catalog team to write product descriptions. This challenging work demanded precise yet extremely concise wording that had to conform with a rigorous style guide, as space is at a premium in a full color printed catalog.