Mark Subel and Natalie Nichols of Two Wheels Marketing began their presentation to our class this past month with, “How does this apply to real life?” as part of Associate Professor of Practice Kevin Steidel’s Digital Marketing class on Tuesday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
The learning, collaboration, and a heightened understanding of a real-life digital marketing career are already shaping this class to be one of my favorites at Wittenberg. We are learning about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) best practices, understanding SEO, and understanding the Internet in general. This provides for a huge leg up in my personal job search as I look toward post-graduation and beginning my career in marketing. Subel said during the presentation that not many colleges are providing students an opportunity like this to learn about digital marketing in a structured classroom experience.
Subel, CEO of Two Wheels Marketing, and Natalie Nichols, lead digital strategist of Two Wheels Marketing, came to our class from Columbus, Ohio. They arrived with a full slideshow of information about what SEO is, from the professional perspective and how they have created a career out of improving SEO for companies.
SEO is what everyone in the business world is talking about right now. A Google search of SEO calls up over 694,000,000 results. That’s more results than Googling superstore Walmart at 435,000,000. What Two Wheels Marketing focuses on is website search optimization, meaning that their keywords are placed strategically on the site, so when someone searches for their services, they are in the top results. Google’s algorithm is somewhat of a mystery, but they have found ways and practices to put companies they work for toward the top of the Google search results. They also focus on paid advertising for search and for social media. All of this is extremely important in making sure the best pages are found easily and quickly by consumers.
Having these professionals come in and talk directly about what we’re learning in the class was a fantastic real-life, hands-on experience. Hearing them elaborate on what we’ve been talking about is helpful for understanding the industry and also for how to get jobs in the industry. Subel started Two Wheels Marketing by knowing what he was good at and seeing some gaps in the industry. It’s important for us to hear from an entrepreneur about what he’s doing and where he started. Finding something your good at, sticking to it, and constantly learning are keys to success in this industry.
He also shared with us a few ways to make ourselves more marketable to future employers. We were encouraged to start a blog, start a website, start something, and see how it all works. Buy a domain and play around with different key words in the website and see what the results are. Subel encouraged us to take a shot, try something new, and go for what we want to do.
As digital marketing is exactly the field I want to go into when I graduate in May, opportunities like this to learn from professionals currently in the business and make those connections with them is a fantastic way to network. We’re all told that getting a job after college is all about the connections; connections like these enhance my learning, understanding, and future employment potential. I’m excited for post grad and with classroom experiences like this, I feel more prepared for my ‘real life’ to begin. Though that’s not to say I’m in any rush to leave this home I have been lucky enough to have these past four years at Wittenberg University.
Learn more about Two Wheels Marketing at https://twowheelsmarketing.com.
By Devon Atchison ’19
Majors: Marketing and Communication
Minor: Economics
Hometown: Pataskala, Ohio
