SEM At Any Price?

I’m at Search Engine Strategies London where I had drinks last night with some of the best minds in the biz: Mike Grehan, Anne Kennedy, and Jessie Stricchiola, to name just a few. It was astounding to hear search’s old guard talk about the young Turks who are being hired as in-house SEMs. $150K signing bonuses are becoming common, as is profligate job-hopping among people with only a year or two of experience.

So why aren’t all these seasoned professionals cashing in? There was plenty of laughter when that question arose.

“We’re too cliquish,” scoffed somebody.

“You mean no more working at home, being our own bosses, and maintaining our own sites while we pick and chose our clients?” asked another, rhetorically. A third member of the party was on her cell phone making spontaneous plans to pop over to Rome for the weekend (taking her laptop — and by extension, her clients — along for the ride).

Search may be in hypergrowth mode, but money isn’t everything to the real pros. Perhaps something to consider when determining who’s going to be responsible for your site’s SEM and SEO.