Former marketing VP goes rogue with Web Savvy Marketing firm

Rebecca Gill spent 18 years in the workforce before she became one of the people the workforce depends on — the boss. Gill worked for eight years as a vice president of marketing at a local software firm until two years ago. She then decided it was time for a change and started Web Savvy Marketing out of her home in Commerce Township. Taking the leap from employee to self-employed is normally a difficult one, especially mid-career. Gill didn't see it that way. "Rather than find a job at another company in a down economy, I started to go rogue," Gill says. "I started my own company." Gill built up Web Savvy Marketing through professional contacts she built up over her career. Being on her own made it a do or die situation. Gill did it. Today the firm employs five people and she is looking to add a few interns in the near future. Web Savvy Marketing specializes in all aspects of online marketing, such as social media and search engine optimization. Gill uses a combination of her professional Rolodex and Internet marketing skills to continue to expand her client list. "If I blog, I get business," Gill says. "The more I blog, the bigger numbers of clients I get." Source: Rebecca Gill, president and founder of Web Savvy Marketing Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.