In Those other Joe Hages! I groused about some other Joe Hage who was overshadowing my own Joe Hageness. And while “taking him down” did give me great joy, I’ve won a bigger prize. I’m the #1 Seattle Marketing Strategist.

Seattle Marketing Strategy was free for me, paid for them (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

As of this writing (updated 11/15/09), I have the first local result and the first three results (among millions!) for the term “Seattle Marketing Strategy” refer to me. Biznik helped me get there.

Biznik is routinely among the top three Google results for “Business Networking,” along with better-known BNI and LinkedIn. Biznik brands itself as “Business Networking that Doesn’t Suck.” I can attest: I care about a number of the members and they reciprocate. We share ideas and referrals. We endorse one another for customer testimonials. We use one another’s goods and services.

Me? I’ve spent tens of thousands for Biznik members’ services since October 2008. In fact, Biznik is the first place I look for professionals in the area to help me do everything from restoring my hard drive (thanks, William Fulton) to writing my business copy (thanks, Karen Anderson) to building this website (thanks, Tia Peterson)!

Since Biznik generates tens of thousands of hits per month and ranks highly in Google search results, my Biznik profile builds my credibility as a marketing expert. I’ve written four highly-ranked articles on Biznik and earned an “Expert” Badge which confers more credibility. And as a supporting member, I get 26x more web page traffic than a basic (free) member. I strongly encourage you to join.

Why is my marketing credibility important? In a word, opportunity. According to Howard Nestler, CEO of Executive Options, “The typical executive sees himself or herself as an employee and not as a brand.” Note to Howard: I’m not a typical executive.

Take my Biznik profile, for example. I have a great and meaningful job as Director of Marketing Communications at Cardiac Science. Success there means saving lives (watch this!).

Still, the Joe Hage brand delivers marketing strategy expertise and I use my Cardiac Science accomplishments as supporting points. That positioning is relevant to my target market and opens me up to more opportunities.

For example, I’m certain that Kelly Sharples, President of Northwest Enterprising Moms, would not have asked “the Cardiac Science guy” to speak at an upcoming event. She’s not looking for someone to extol the virtues of accessible defibrillation. She’s looking for an expert marketing consultant to guide her members about best practices. I’m happy to do it; it expands my network, adds credibility to my brand, and is just plain fun away from the office.

Just today my brother-in-law John Greer (who hasn’t done practically anything on the site since he joined months ago) emailed me and said, “Wow, this Biznik thing really works. Out of nowhere, someone pointed me to an opportunity to write an article!”

So, how about you? What’s your selling proposition and what piece of Google real estate do you want to own? Think about it, and start here.

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