I've said it time and time again at conferences. There are great search marketers out there in the world that no one has ever heard of. They aren't speaking on conferences, but they are driving conversions. They aren't billing enough to afford to fly first class, but they're still booked solid. They may not blog or write many articles, but they get the job done and do it well. Some of them would like to break into the spotlight...if you're one of them, your chance is coming up next month.

Andy Beal over at Marketing Pilgrim will be running his next "SEM Scholarship Contest" this March. I've signed on as a judge and Robert and I have contributed to the prize pool. Other judges for the March event include Jim Boykin, Todd Malicoat, Lee Odden, Andrew Goodman, Kalena Jordan and Kim Krause Berg (and quite a few other notable names!) Topics for the contest will include paid search, social media and organic optimization and entries will be judged based on both traffic numbers and the judges feedback.

It's a great way for an unknown, but skilled search marketer to break into the mix.