Co-authored by Shaun Oakes. 

As everyone in the office will tell you, the brains of the Quirk operation officially resides in the SEM (not S&M) team. A mysterious and enigmatic group of individuals, the SEM department is sometimes also referred to as the “Ministry of Cunning Plans”, or the “Gods and Goddesses of Search”, although the latter term hasn’t exactly caught on as we had hoped.

If the task at hand does not involve design, copy or being a suit, then it’s probably our job. Our holistic approach to traffic means that we are responsible (but not limited to) the following specialisations: 

• SEO - All things organic and white hat.
• PPC - You click, you pay!
• ORM - They said what?
• Web Analytics - Big brother is tracking you.
• Conversion Optimisation - 25% off if you sign up now! 

Craig	Heidi	Mango
Shaun	Suzan	Richard
Ntombi	Tammy

Comrade Suzan Gray, our red-headed, red-penned dictator democratically–elected president, is responsible for keeping the SEM team in check. Suzan doesn’t just have her finger on the pulse of new and upcoming ideas and technology, she has her entire hand firmly gripped around it.

The rest of the team is a smorgasbord of PPC, SEO and ORM fundis:

Heidi, the team cynic, is also sometimes affectionately referred to as “Number 2” (in our best Dr Evil accent). Heidi is the obsessive click counter of the team and spends her days fiddling with AdWords and Analytics accounts, whilst extolling the virtues of organic vegetables and fruit, which she grows in her garden.  

Tammy, who is slowly morphing into a suit (traitor!) is also a PPC and Web Analytics pro. She is the undisputed champion of AdWords Editor and can upload a PPC campaign faster than the time it takes to make a toasted cheese sarmie. We know this because we have regularly put her to the test, and she has never melted under the pressure. 

Shaun, “Cape Town’s Favourite Son”, is the newest addition to the team, and brings his unique SEO and strategic planning skills to the table. Shaun is guilty of introducing Richard and Craig to the dangerous and addictive game of La Tarjeta Loca – and we suspect it’s only a matter of time until someone loses an eye to one of their business cards.

Mango is our foreign import, hailing from Zimbabwe. He looks after our ORM clientele, as well as ensures that our internal sites and campaigns are performing in tip top shape. 

Richard is the “floater” in the team, not as in the turd though, but in that he is able to float between PPC, SEO as well as ORM tasks with great ease. He likes to call Heidi “sunshine” which we think is the pot calling the kettle black.

Ntombi is our link building and administration machine. She is officially part of the office furniture, what with her now 7 years at the QuirkStation and all!

Finally there is Craig Hallet AKA Whitney - another SEM floater (although slightly less buoyant than Richard) - and someone who has the ability to belt out a passionate rendition of Celine Dion’s “Titanic song”, to lift us up when we’re feeling a little worn out after a long week.  

Craig, Richard, Heidi, Mango, Shaun

So how do we usually spend our days and weeks?   

We are usually an approachable and carefree lot except during “that time of the month”, also known as “report week” and a few other names that we could not get past editorial, when it’s best to make a wide berth around the Ministry on your way to the kitchen. 

Living an excessive rock-star lifestyle, we are understandably not morning people and are usually the last to stumble into the office – which also means we can often be found burning the midnight oil (Suzan in particular can be found Twittering at ungodly hours). A typical day will start out with some coffee and a light read through our various RSS feeds, ensuring we keep abreast of Internet marketing related news and trends.
As a member of the Ministry, your day can vary greatly - from setting up PPC campaigns, brainstorming creative marketing or viral ideas, writing up strategy documents to trying to understand why traffic has dropped on a client’s site. 

It’s this type of excitement that gets our hearts pumping, ensuring there is never a dull moment on our side of the Station.