About

The Short Story

  • My name is Clare Lancaster – I created my first website in 1995 and was using ‘social networking’ in 1996.
  • I studied Communication Design (New Media) at QUT in 1998 and started my commercial career as a Search Engine Optimisation Specialist (SEO) in 2001.
  • Since then, I’ve worked in areas such as search marketing, affiliate marketing, domain monetization, online strategy and more recently social media.
  • I launched my consultancy, Dot Marketing, after spending 8 years working for The Man. I work with businesses of all sizes however these days, my schedule is very full.
  • I’m working on a way to help advise business owners and marketing managers who want to get online and grow their business in a “Do it Yourself” fashion.
  • I also own and run womeninbusiness.com.au, twitterguide.com.au & feelgoodlist.com

The Interview

Read the interview.

The Long Story

The first website I ever visited was the Musee d’Orsay. That was 1995.  I studied Communication Design at QUT, Brisbane Australia and graduated at the end of 2000 (right after the .com bust – not great timing!)

I started a position as a Search Engine Optimisation Specialist with Ispye.com in early 2001. I had never heard of SEO but when I started the job I saw that SEO encompassed the business strategy and project management side of website development, as well as driving visitors to the website through search engines, and that I liked.

Ispye.com was an online marketing agency whose clients were in the online gaming industry operating in America and targeting an American audience.

SEO wasn’t something that was popular or mainstream in Australia in 2001 but given the competition within the marketplace we were operating in, I was thrown in the deep end to say the least.

After 3 years I left Ispye.com and moved on to a publicly listed Internet Advertising company in Brisbane – Dark Blue Sea Pty Ltd. This was another Brisbane company who works primarily with international customers developing products for the U.S and U.K market.

Here, I was surrounded by incredibly talented people and a work environment indicative of their success. A highlight was managing the first commercial SEO competition “Nigritude Ultramarine“.  However after 7 years working online I found myself craving something completely different.

I decided to do something that was never in the plan – I went to work in the family business. Australasian Agricultural Services Pty Ltd is involved in the Australasian poultry industry.

One day I was saying goodbye to my friends at DBS, the next I was in a chicken shed learning about the equipment that we sell for my role as National Marketing Manager. It turned out to be the best thing I could have done.

While I’ve worked as a consultant throughout my career, I’ve now set up a  business to sell my website strategy, website audits and marketing services (SEO etc) and help me achieve my dreams.

This blog is a place to chronicle that journey, share information and experience and to inspire and be inspired by other people doing it for themselves online.

It’s nice to meet you and thank you for reading.

Clare.