About the Website

Like anyone engaged in Internet Marketing, I can find it challenging making time to keep up to date with developments in SEO, PPC, social media, web design, and so on. Google keep us on our toes with changes such as Caffeine, personalised search, and lately Google Instant. New design, reporting and analytics tools come onto the market all the time. Social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter frequently add new functionality and opportunities. Industry bloggers continually educate on new tricks and techniques. Phew! So what to do?

The idea behind erocket is simple; to collate the resources (tools, blogs, learning, etc) that I have found most useful, and to categorise these according to the underlying activity to which they belong (usability testing, link building, social media monitoring, and so on). These are my favourite bookmarks, basically, but on steroids. My thinking is that, if I've found this information useful, others will too. But unlike a blog, within which you often need to skim read to find the useful nuggets, these links get straight to the point.

Also, in publicising these resources, my aim is to act as a thought reader, not a thought leader! There seem to be no shortage of people jockeying to promote themselves as gurus in this industry (it seems to be the pulse behind Twitter at times), but I'm not interested in joining them. That's not an attempt at false modesty - I believe I'm good at what I do - but for every genuinely useful posting online there are bucket loads of the rehashed or ill-informed. I'd far rather share the stuff produced by the genuine experts I admire and follow. But enough of the soapbox.

My thinking is that, if I find this stuff valuable, then others in the web marketing industry might too. It is also an opportunity to acknowledge the generosity and effort of the authors and developers who've put this stuff out there. If you think you've found a better written, more authoritative, or more user-friendly alternative to any of the content herein I'd love to hear about it. And if I agree with you, I'll add it to the site.

About Me

Portrait of Dave Fowler of eRocket

Career History

I've had a varied career. After 10 years working in a small family business (as a Saw Doctor), a voluntary stint in event management inspired me to go to university to study Leisure Marketing. After graduating from Bournemouth University in 1995, I fell into a career in call centre management. A decade of people management followed, which I thoroughly enjoyed, managing operations in telesales, telemarketing, and customer services. Hugely challenging at times, but always rewarding.

Well, almost always; they don't seem to aspire to longevity in that industry, and after 3 redundancies in almost as many years (twice seeing high-performing departments I'd established closed down because their employers could pay people a pound an hour less in another part of the country), I grew disillusioned and decided to change direction.

Initially I learnt web design with a view to promoting a photography business I had aspirations to set up. But I fell in love with the marketing and SEO aspects of Internet business and decided to pursue this instead. I'm delighted I did.