Stephen Cheng's answers

I am an online marketing manager at Alibris. I handle our in-house search-related traffic acquisition programs: search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), and shopping comparison datafeeds for a site whose product inventory is in the millions (Alibris sells new & used books, rare & out-of print books through a network of independent booksellers). I'm also the primary lead for web analytics and conversion testing. If this seems like a lot of work, it is. But that's life at a small to mid-size company. :-)...

1) I love books.
And we have over 70M new and used books, rare and out-of-print books, etc. Trying to figure out a search engine marketing or conversion strategy for this kind of inventory level is a bit like getting paid to wander through all of imagination and knowledge.

2) Friendly, smart co-workers.
They're nice enough that you want them to do well; they're smart enough to force you to improve yourself. They just ask for an honest effort. It's the best sort of peer pressure you could have.

3) We're undermanned and out-gunned...everything is going according to plan.
Sorry, we don't have bazillions in venture funding. Books aren't Web 5.8 Service Pack 2. So, you're forced to wear a lot of hats and make up a few of your own. If you don't like to get your hands dirty, this isn't the place for you. Without #2, this would be a grind. With #2, it merely becomes "challenging." Or maybe I'm just a sucker for the underdog.

It's not perfect, but if you like to read and learn, you could do far worse....