Warm, vivacious, talkative. This is our own Marine Larmier
June 22, 2017
Marine, you are French. What part of France do you come from?
The name of my village is Saint Martin du Var. It is about 30 minutes from Nice, halfway between the Alps (perfect for winter skiing) and the Mediterranean (perfect for swimming in summer).
My parents first met when they were 15 and my father works for Air France, so as children we were fortunate enough to have traveled to exotic places like Mauritius Island, Cuba and other Caribbean islands. I believe this early exposure to other cultures has helped me to be open-minded and not to fear the unknown.
I am very proud of my brother, Julien who is – yes wait for it – a French chef! I love my grandparents very deeply. My grandfather is 90 years old and still an avid gardener! They have so many experiences to share with me – it was really another world when they were young.
We know how much you love to travel already, but do you have time for other hobbies?
Right now I am talking to you from Bangkok, Thailand. It’s true, traveling is my passion but hand in hand with this goes food! I find the different flavors and spices irresistible and so enjoyable! One day I would like to take a cuisine course. I love to shop in the city, but especially I like the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere of being by the sea.
How long have you been with OTGS?
Not even a year. I studied in France, China and in the UK – Tourism, European Business Management and then got a Masters degree in Multicultural Web Marketing. This led to an international marketing job with an airline company in Thailand.
My boyfriend, André who comes from New Zealand works remotely, encouraged me to try it and while I was translating a website I discovered WPML. OTGS was looking for developers at the time, but I took the initiative to send an email and promote myself explaining what I do and the skills I have. So here I am working closely with Amir, Dario Hrvatin, Mohamed K., and Peter.
Doing what exactly?
In one word, I would answer that it’s all about communication. I try to connect people with our plugins, especially Toolset. We need to maintain a good relationship with Theme Authors, and because of this credibility, some big players have published full tutorials and social media announcements about WPML. We aim to involve their marketing teams, using live demos of WPML on Skype as well as sharing documentation and teaming up to announce the news to both our communities.
Maintaining good relationships with bloggers and other influencers without falling into the trap of “promotional talk” is challenging but essential. At the end of the day, it’s people who purchase our products, so it’s important to understand this when communicating with them. That’s why we have created a value proposition for theme authors, but use a different strategy for bloggers.
Building solid contacts using WPML is opening doors to introduce Toolset.
I love writing documentation and recording videos. Being an inquisitive person by nature I need to have an in-depth knowledge of our products to understand what I’m promoting.
My advice to those of you interested in doing similar work is to persevere without losing your motivation. Some market influencers, bloggers, internet users and even theme authors may not be thrilled by what you sell or by what you have to say. I’ve come across some people who won’t reply or quite frankly say, “ I don’t like this so I will not cover it.” Simply move on. There are plenty more fish in the sea.
This must be very challenging
Yes indeed. Sometimes, it can get very technical and I find myself asking thousands of questions to the developers, supporters and the compatibility team. Well, almost to everyone actually… Everyone has been very helpful so far (so guys if you read this, I just want to say a big thanks.)
I have to keep in mind that our clients have different technical levels so I need to “translate” something which is very technical into an item which is attractive and easy to use.
Another challenge for me is to focus on one project at a time and to actually complete it! It may sound logical, but trust me, in marketing, you can have hundreds of ideas coming per week and I tend to think about many things at the same time. So one challenge is to prioritize the important tasks and just stick to them. Of course, during the day you always have unexpected things coming up. I think it’s called life, right?
I can see you really enjoy your work
Absolutely! Especially that I can work from almost anywhere in the world, even at an airport!
I love the diversity and versatility. One day I may have an online contest with a major theme house, and the next day I am recording a video about how to submit content using Toolset. The same internally – I talk to almost all the different departments and I love it.
I love the awesome feeling when I finally get something published online on the partner’s website after several weeks of exchanging emails or talking on Skype to get things done.
A highlight for me is when I meet actually clients in person, thanks to WordCamp events. I loved WordCamp London with Andrés so much for this.
I am also grateful for the “good” and “not so good” feedback I get from Amir, Dario, and Mohamed with my writing. It helps me to improve and motivates me to become better at my job.
Do you keep to a predictable daily routine?
I try to. After my wake-up coffee (and I insist on a good cup of coffee) I check my e-mails and tickets. I prioritize – urgent tasks come first – giving and receiving feedback.
After a short lunch break, I like to work on tasks on my own – documentation and video recording. Last task of the day – my daily report.
Your future plans?
I know that I can’t change the appalling state of the world, but I would like to contribute to change by engaging in some sort of volunteer work. As for me personally, I’d like to travel some more and learn a new language before deciding with my boyfriend where to live and settle down – New Zealand, France or somewhere else.
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