Ok, so she's not "our" Diane Aull as much as she's Acroprint and Nine Yards' Diane Aull, but she is a regular writer and forum moderator here. Liana Evans has an entertaining (and information packed) interview with Diane over at Search Marketing Gurus this week as part of her Women of Internet Marketing Wednesday series.

One of the most interesting segments was Diane's perspective on working as both an in-house search marketer and as a SEM consultant.

Q: You are in a very unique position, in that you are an in-house SEM but you also consult, could you enlighten us on what the major differences are for you?

A: The in-house work is totally hands-on -- everything from server administration to web design to content development to search marketing. Whether I do the work myself or I direct the work of a contractor, I'm very much responsible for everything that happens with all our web properties. While I also manage the websites for some subsidiary and "sister" companies in other lines of business, the main body of what I do is quite focused on a single fairly "niche" industry. It's been a chance to go very, very deep in terms of industry, business and product knowledge, which has proven to be fascinating.

On the consulting side, my partner and I both spend our days in hands-on roles so we enjoy the opportunity to do something a little different in our own business. Our focus is on offering education and empowerment -- helping our clients learn for themselves what it takes to make their own sites better. While we will occasionally take on a particularly interesting site makeover, by and large I see my consulting role as an adviser and guide.

You can also hear her perspective on the paid link debate, on SEO verses PPC and what advice she'd offer up to women looking to enter the industry.

Beyond that, there are some juicy tidbits about how she got her forum nickname (Torka), who her search dream team is and whether she'd pick Robert Clough, Stoney deGeyter or Matt Bailey. (My personal vote is Robert, but only because it's his birthday today and he's now old and needs to feel special.)