Julie Sturgeon is the National Sales and Marketing Director for Knowledgewebb and an independent journalist with 20 years of professional writing experience in business and trade publications.

One Woman Marketing: Describe how you entered your current position.

Julie Sturgeon: The owner of WebbMedia Group, which owns Knowledgewebb, was looking for a marketing person on rather unusual terms for this industry: straight commission on new business the person brings in. She turned to several journalism organizations to put the word out, including Freelance Success where I’ve been a member for more than a decade.

The notice ran in a December internal newsletter and I was in an ornery, restless mood that morning. Why not start 2010 on a different note than the same old  assignments?

I sent her my background and asked for the opportunity. Amy brought me on board by the first of February.

How did you get started with marketing? Was it challenging, or did it come naturally?

Both. Anything you learn as an adult is challenging, including learning to operate your new washer/dryer combo. We bring old experiences with us to every new opportunity, which can send you down wrong paths.

My old baggage is that I’m a chatty person. I like to talk to people and know more about them than the topic at hand. I also have a deep fear of the word “sales,” since it conjures up images of Franklin closes and rejection because you didn’t push the right buttons with the buyer.

It turns out that marketing shouldn’t be any of that. Yes, you have to convert eyeballs to dollars. But thanks to social media’s big entrance, you accomplish that by being chatty and interested in people. And it takes more than just a surface facade — it takes being genuine, admitting flaws … being a true friend/customer service professional/counselor rolled into one.

The final step to reach your goal involves engaging these new friends with creativity. It’s a lot more fun than memorizing scripts. And at the end of the process, you have added some pretty cool people in your life.

What preconceptions about sales and marketing, if any, did you have when you started?

Two words: high-pressure persuasion and formulated approaches. I’m so glad I was wrong.

How important of a role does marketing play in your day-to-day business?

It’s the lifeblood. Knowledgewebb is an online, self-directed training community that teaches members how to use social media tools. Not why you need social media — that’s being done to death — but how to actually plan and edit a multimedia story or use CSS code. Our instructors can offer all the lessons, webinars and chats they want. If no one attends, what’s the point?

I track my marketing activity in terms of the hour: What five things have you done to get Knowledgewebb in front of the right small-business audiences since 11 a.m.?

What marketing methods have worked best for you?

I have had good success with value-added offers. For instance, we gave a free website review for new members right before the July 4^thholiday weekend. You know, when only 20 percent of the country was even in an office? Traffic numbers immediately jumped, and sign-ups were beyond what we expected given the timing.

Which have been the most challenging?

Contests. We are currently running a referral contest called Summer Smarts. We configured each person’s account so that all they needed to do is click a button, type in email addresses to send invitations to their contacts and we track everyone who responds.

The person with the most referrals by Labor Day wins an iPad.  That’s not a cheap prize, and we have vauable gift cards for runners-up, too.

But participation is mysteriously lacking. I have yet to figure out if our members don’t understand the contest, or the industry has worn out the public’s acceptance of emailing their friends/voting at sites, etc.

How has your self-image changed since you started marketing?

I spent several decades telling myself I was a one-trick pony. I could interview sources and write a magazine article about that. Pfffft. I have a much stronger sense now of how I will survive, and thrive, in any economic climate, industry, career situation.

What do you wish you knew about marketing before you started?

That it is a lot more fun than journalism.

What marketing advice would you give to other women in business?

There is a lot of advice out there on marketing approaches. Most of it is good, but not all of it is for you. You have to be comfortable with yourself and your approach in this space, or it will never get off the ground.

To what do you attribute your success?

A willingness to fail, admit that didn’t work, and start again without any of that affecting my self-worth.