The head of Women in Technology , a 14 year old D.C. organization, invited me to speak about about Arca Solutions’ product and services.   The thing that really struck me once I got to the event was how hard the economic conditions have hit our area – a city which is usually resilient against tough times.  Many people there had lost their jobs from heavy hitters such as AT&T, Sprint-Nextel and Microsoft.

While the second speaker was in front of the audience, I quickly thought about how to add to my talk how there were 20% more jobs last year than there was in 2007 in the SEO industry.  I decided that the latter half of my talk should focus on having the ability to reinvent yourself  when the job market is weak.

I went in front of the audience and highlighted the fact that there are jobs out there that are recession-proof – specifically Search Engine Optimization.  For those with Web Design experience, learning how to optimize a site can open up their market.  Also, for the people with a Marketing background, they can enter a different field where they work with web developers to create the right content, links and tags in order to foster increased revenue.

I was surprised at how many people wanted to learn more and asked how to get in touch with me after the presentation.  One woman who had been thinking about migrating into the crowded Project Management field mentioned that this may be something else for her to think about.  The bad news is that 2009 is going to be a tough year; the good news could be that you come out on the other end of it with a brand new profession.

You’re not in business to be popular
Kirstie Alley, popular 1990’s actress

I thought about this quote and realized the irony of it given my role with Arca Solutions. I am responsible for educating our prospects and customer base on how they can increase search engine rankings and market their site. Specifically, I promote eDirectory and our Search Engine Optimization(SEO) service which are designed to make our customers’ sites popular. As most people know, the importance of high search engine rankings is key to getting the traffic that can turn into sales.

There has never been a more exciting time for people to run an online business whether they do this as a full time job or manage it on their spare time. Because the overhead is lower than having a brick and mortar shop, getting into the web space during down-economic times is a low risk thing to do. It still requires dedication and the use of all of the tactics that you would normally use to run an “offline” company. With all the software tools out there, however, a mere spark of an idea can turn into cash-flow reality in less than a year.

I look forward to writing about topics such as search engines, monetizing your site, increasing traffic and how to make your audience find you. After all, unlike Kirstie’s thinking, you ARE in business to be popular.