2009 April | Seattle Online Marketing, Communications, Strategy

Wow. It worked!

April 19, 2009 By Joe Hage 4 Comments

I had all but given up reconnecting with my friend Michele Wolf.

Then I wrote a blog about it.

What happened

I never met Suzanne before. Didn’t know who she was.

But for some reason Suzanne googled Michele one day. She stumbled upon my blog and wrote me:

“Hi Joe. I saw your blog today about Michele Wolf. I knew Michele In Atlanta, and have a decent bit of info about her that I think will help you find her. BUT, obviously I’m a little dubious. It’s funny that I should come across your blog because I’ve had her on my mind the past several weeks. Strange how these things happen.

I have an old phone number of hers that I’ve used in the past couple of years to leave messages, but I haven’t spoken with her in a while. If you could just put my mind at rest that I’m not handing info over to someone she doesn’t want to find her, I’d appreciate it. I’m sure you understand.”

So I wrote back a note that put her mind at ease. Turns out, she did get in touch with Michele and told Michele about my blog.

A happy ending

Michele called me today. It was as though we talked yesterday.

We had a lot of catching up to do!

Thank you, Mr. Internet.

Love in an elevator

April 18, 2009 By Joe Hage 1 Comment

If you’re interested in blogging, you should discover Darren Rowse at ProBlogger.

Why?

Because ProBlogger Helps Bloggers Build Exceptional Blogs.

Clean. Easy to understand. And, once you visit his site, it’s clear he can substantiate the claim. The 776 comments on one of his posts gives it away: He has something of value to say. (See social proof.)

Yes, Darren has a clear positioning statement:

To bloggers interested in building better blogs, Darren Rowse is the blogging expert who can help you improve your blog because is a full-time blogger who blogs about blogging to a loyal (and vocal) following.

My elevator pitch

I wrote in The First Three Questions that I have a number of positioning statements, depending on the audience I’m serving.

I have the Joe-Hage-as-dad positioning.

The Joe-Hage-as-professional-who-can-help-independent-businesspeople positioning.

The Joe-Hage-as-Cardiac-Science-employee positioning.

Enter ProBlogger.

Darren prepared a free mini-course for his readers: 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (31DBBB for short). His first assignment: “What’s your elevator pitch?”

He writes, “If you’re fuzzy on what your blog is about it’s unlikely than anyone else will have much of an idea either.”

As you know, I’m very comfortable in this space but thought, “What do I want my readers to know about this blog?”

The elevator pitch for the JoeHageOnline blog

Joe Hage is a good guy to know for marketing strategy and communications.

Here’s my thinking:

1. I used my name instead of something that sounds larger than I am. It’s just me (and the people I know who, collectively, make me more resourceful than I am on my own).

2. I chose “good guy to know” to be approachable and friendly. I’m not trying to pass myself off as the definitive marketing resource. Just, well, a good guy to know.

3. My specialties are marketing strategy and marketing communications. Blogged articles on these topics are the most valuable. The other content shows the “good guy” part (the humor, stuff about my family, etc.).

P.S. As I wrote in “Why I blog,” I have a full-time job as Director of Marketing Communications at Cardiac Science and enjoy my job. I’m not looking to move and I know one or more employees are reading this along with you. So I don’t want anything to suggest anything other than what this blog is: Me, doing the marketing strategy and communications I love in an extra-curricular way.

It benefits me and the company. There’s no question building this blog helped me build http://cardiacscience.com, maintain the Cardiac Science blog, and manage its @cardiacscience Twitter account. Invaluable learning. Fun too.

So what’s your elevator pitch?

Give it a try below in the comments.

How’d I do, Darren?

Photo credit: kosso

Wharton Follies: Jeopardy (1991)

April 14, 2009 By Joe Hage Leave a Comment

What’s on my mind

April 3, 2009 By Joe Hage 3 Comments

Having launched cardiacscience.com last month and maintaining a blog (and Twitter account) for it, I find that keeping up with my own blog to be a bit of a challenge. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. Maybe you’ll find the detritus interesting.

1. Cancun: I’m sitting poolside in Cancun. With a computer, you scoff?

Yes, I am the only one with a computer at the pool and the glare makes it very difficult to see the screen. But my kids are in the Kids Camp and Beth is reading her book right beside me.

Typing relaxes me. On vacation, I typically read and come up with ideas. I write them down and think, “When I get home I’ll act on these.” Then life catches up with me and I have 700 emails and three things past due.

The memories of the vacation and the ideas fade: I never get around to them. Perhaps with my computer I can act on them right away.

Get your copy: Profits to Susan G. Komen for the Cure

2. Author: I contributed to a book called “Connect: Marketing in the Social Media Era.” It just went on sale and all profits go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I met the book’s creator, Jeff Caswell, virtually. We met at one site and started to follow one another on Twitter. I enjoy projects like the book because it keeps me limber and gives me the chance to know other marketers.

3. Blurb.com: Months ago I blogged from a Biznik event about publishing a book using lulu.com. I discovered blurb.com (a competitive Web site) when I purchased a copy of Connect.

I asked Jeff and the Twitter community why blurb over lulu. Jeff said,

Blurb.com gives you the software to format your book for free. Your cost is entirely variable. They determine the cost per book and you set how much profit (if any) you choose per book.

If no books sell, you have no expense.

You can buy your own inventory and bundle it with a speaking engagement. Or promote the book on your Web site.

I’m intrigued.

4. PHP scripts: I took Robert Plank and Jason Fladlien’s online seminar called PHP copywriting. I learned how to write dynamic HTML pages.

Most Web pages are static: you write the content and it stays as is until you change it. With PHP, you can create scarcity with a countdown clock (how much time before the sale is over) or how many units are left or give a special offer for the first 10 buyers, for example.

I’m going to use some of my downtime here to write my first dynamic page.

5. AdWords campaign: I’m testing my way through my first AdWords campaign. It’s a bit of a trial-and-error game to find out what works.

It reminds me of Mark Strat – my favorite class at Wharton and the one that pushed me into marketing for a career. That class changed my life.

6. 61 flags: Maybe I’m the last one to use this outlook feature, but I recently started “flagging” those emails that require my follow up. It’s a sad state when I feel good to just have 61 flags. I worked last weekend to winnow the list down from 87.

Sadder still is that I don’t bother to flag the “really important things” – the big projects I have to complete. The flags are for the little things I otherwise would forget.

7. 10 comments: Robert and Jason (see #3) conclude each blog post with a request (plea?) for at least 10 comments.

It’s worth a try. What on my list interested you most? Let’s get up to 10 comments.
…

Well, nice to be back in touch.