About Me

Well hello there!  So now that you have stumbled upon my site, it is my hope that I can provide you with some insightful knowledge regarding the marketing sandbox that I play in. I’ve been involved in all aspects of digital marketing from interactive project management, to measurement and optimization to strategy and consultation to development to documentation and QA.  Phew!  I guess you can say I am capable of wearing many hats!  For every aspect that goes into a technical project, I’ve been intimately involved. I currently call Arc Worldwide my home where I work full time working as an Interactive Project Manager.  Keep reading below for a more detailed summary of my education and career experience and to read some testimonials from former employers.  Thank you for visiting!

- Brian Liedtke

I graduated from Columbia College with a B.A. in Marketing Communications. I have to proudly acknowledge, my experience at Columbia was one I will never forget and I’ll always be grateful for Columbia’s style of learning and the teachers’ willingness to be mentors to us even after graduation.

After graduating from Columbia College, I got my first entry-level job advancing through the Enterprise Rent-a-Car management training program.  I quickly advanced through the training program, was selected for the “Best Person Program” where I was able to work at Chicago’s Midway Airport rental branch, and quickly promoted to Assistant Branch Manager.  Enterpise provided me with the basic tools and skills needed to excel in business: customer service, marketing, management/leadership and logistics/operations.

One of my first jobs after Enterprise was doing marketing for Mixmaster Throwdown, one of Chicago’s leading and most successful nightclub promotion companies.  It was here that I met Dan Morrell, a very successful Chicago DJ and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. I will always be grateful to Dan for giving me the opportunity to implement my marketing skills and feeding my passion and desire for interactive and social marketing. My primary roles were to encourage event participation at the various nightclub events and promote the brand through the use of social media and traditional media. I loved the event planning business so much that I tried my hand at owning my own business, Impact Promotions, which was a special events and promotions company.  Impact Promotions was created to be a full service promotions company handling all aspects of creating a special event from concept to planning to execution to cleanup. Unfortunately, I couldn’t secure the resources and the business never had a chance to develop or grow. I learned a valuable lesson in this business venture and took that experience to become a better employee in the business world, and how I found my first advertising agency.

My first agency I worked for was Lever Interactive, an online marketing agency specializing in SEM and SEO.  At Lever I was responsible for managing paid search accounts, developing keyword builds, email marketing, and website conversion optimization.  While at Lever I became certified as a Google AdWords professional and a Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador. I was also trained in Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer.

After Lever I worked as a project manager for Emerge Digital, a very talented interactive agency that specialize in digital online social marketing.

“Brian is a take-charge person who is able to present creative ideas and communicate the benefits. He has successfully developed process and implemented said process to affect the ROI model of our client’s projects”

- Amelia Kleymann, Executive Producer, Emerge Digital

At Emerge Digital, I was officially known as a Project Manager but my roles expanded to many different tasks. I was what many like to say, a creative individual who wears multiple hats in their job. In addition to managing digital marketing campaigns, I would help write up technical documentation, provide client training services, establish key relationships with third party vendors, and was relied on for my analytics and SEO background that I learned while at Lever Interactive.

Unfortunately due to a faltering economy I was let go from Emerge Digital which led me to my current position as a freelancer. I was first led to Upshot where I was a freelance Interactive Project Manager and creating social media strategies for clients.

“Brian Liedtke is a true pro as an interactive project manager. His knowledge of the online space, including social media, process and marketing has been invaluable to our group. In addition to his proactive approach to getting things done, Brian is a person absolutely everyone likes – a real asset to any team.”

- Paul Marran, Interactive Creative Director, Upshot

Upshot was a fantastic agency where I was able to pitch in and contribute to many blue chip clients. My contact was renewed multiple times while I was at Upshot. Eventually as work started to slow towards the end of the year, I did private freelance work for clients, assisting them with website development and social media strategy. View freelance work.

I was signed on as a freelance Interactive Project Manager for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. At RIC, I was asked to manage the website, develop and implement social media strategies, referral development, SEO/SEM and a wide variety of other website related projects. While at RIC, I managed to increase overall web traffic and improved their social presence and built up a dedicated customer base on their social media sites.

“Brian is one of those rare people who is a tremendous asset to the web team because he gets “it” and backs it up with the conviction to make sure the job is done right. He does a terrific managing and administering our web presence with limited resources and using products cobbled together. He has a strong and diverse skill set in interactive tools which comes in handy when you are the technical lead for a mid-size non-profit. Brian is proactive and thinks strategically about the efficacy of his work for the long term. His suggestions and social media prescriptions are spot on and helpful to explain the usefulness of our multi-channel approach to a non-technical audience. With his talent and character, I expect Brian will go far in the interactive media industry.”

- Eric Horner, Director of Interactive Media, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

My biggest accomplishments at RIC have been being able to successfully unblock projects there were previously stalled due to various challenges or resources not being available.  In addition to my corporate marketing roles in maintaining the RIC website and company social media strategy, I was also responsible for maintaining the SkyRise Chicago website and social media strategy, which was RIC’s annual corporate fundraising event.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at RIC and felt humbled by my efforts to contribute even in the slightest way in helping rehabilitate patients and enable people who once thought things were hopeless and give them a new hope and reason for living. While at RIC I was recruited by Leo Burnett to be an Interactive Project Manager. For me, when I was in college, it was my dream to work for a big time advertising agency. While I was disappointed my freelance contract would never evolve into a full time position, I was ecstatic as the opportunities that lie ahead.  I interviewed and gladly accepted a position with Arc Worldwide, the marketing services arm for Leo Burnett. It is this role which I presently hold today.

For a full detailed breakdown of my experience, skills and background, please review my online resume. If you are still reading, thanks for taking the time to learn more about me, I appreciate your interest. Go ahead and feel free to reach out, you can email me to learn more. Thanks!