JumpStart: IdeaExchange Blog

I just returned from the NVCA strategic communicators’ meeting in the fabulous Microsoft NERD Center in Boston (Incidentally, NERD stands for Northeast R&D, but they fully embrace the acronym — love that). It’s a do-not-miss event for me because I always leave with a handful of new tools, tricks, or knowledge. This time, it was the session with HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan which rocked my world in all good ways. Here are the 5 things I took from his presentation (with many thanks and all credit to Brian…).

(As a bit of set up, Brian’s core belief is that we have been through a seismic marketing transformation in that we have moved from push marketing (content is pushed to people, who have little control over it - think TV advertising) to “get found” marketing (content is available and people find it have the control, or the power, over how other people can find it.)

5. To see what a marketer has “done”, just go online. Brian recommended that any portfolio company hiring a director/VP of marketing look at the online presence the person has led or created…whether that be a website, LinkedIn profile, Facebook page, blog, twitter activity, or other content. Look at it and discuss it together. If that person doesn’t have substantive experience that impresses you, the person might still be a very smart, capable marketer, but one with old school skills. Is that what you want?

4. Content is king. Marketers now need to think like publishers. What is the content that you want to make available? Ebooks? White papers? Webinars? Videos? Obviously it’s got to fit with what makes sense to your audience, but making it available is what attracts people to you. With nothing to attract people, how will your audience/customers/constituents engage with you?

3. Marketing departments will be changing dramatically. As JumpStart’s web presence work has grown, I’ve noticed a shift in our work, with much more of it in digital communications and distribution (such as video, SEO, blog distribution, etc) relative to even a year ago. Not surprising, says Halligan, who suggested that marketing departments of today and tomorrow would actually be organized differently: 1) people who create “get found” content (e.g. writers, videographers, etc), 2) people who convert those people who have found you into customers, advocates, or brand loyalists, and 3) people who analyze results and push the organization to continuously evolve.

2. Relationships and connections still matter. While in the past relationships and connections were fostered or nurtured in person vs. the current norm of online, the number of people with whom you are connected still matters. In fact, in a world where content distribution is a major objective and it occurs through individuals who control that distribution, perhaps those relationships matter more. As an example, Halligan mentioned that he hired someone who brought with him 20,000 blog followers. Those connecting assets are actually an important part of your resume. Have you thought of hiring someone based on their online connections?

1. Marketing can create your strategic advantage. Warren Buffett said that in business, you strive every day to build a moat around your company that will protect your business from competitors; every day, you work to make that moat wider, deeper and swifter. Halligan notes that if you are doing the things outlined above– creating connections, strengthening your links to your customers/audience members, and building them aggressively– you are effectively making a moat that it is almost impossible for your competitors to cross. That’s why it’s worth doing.

What do you think?

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.

Last week, Jeff Bussgang had a very interesting post on his own blog and peHUB: Why Do VCs Blog (and Tweet)? As you know, JumpStart is blogging and tweeting too - for many of the same reasons Jeff mentions. It’s great to hear the perspectives of other VCs as the industry continues to change. I shared a few of my thoughts on the topic as well:

Jeff, thanks for the post. Blogging definitely makes information more readily available to the masses and has helped to demystify the topic of venture capital. As a seed-stage venture investor with a focus on companies in the Midwest, I enjoy reading posts from my brethren around the country - it helps me keep abreast of current trends. (Just last month I highlighted 12 great VC-related blogs worth reading). I think you make some great points about why people blog. I know at our firm we started a blog not only to provide an outlet for personal viewpoints on various venture-related topics but also as a PR opportunity for the firm and the individual bloggers. That said, keeping a blog timely and relevant is hard work. Keeping the material fresh is a challenge and I’m impressed (and thankful) that so many VCs take the time to post. I wish I were as diligent. Active blogging by a VC may get them increased deal flow and definitely gets them enhanced name recognition which, for the amount of time and effort a blog requires, is more than deserved.

Lynn-Ann Gries is the Chief Investment Officer of JumpStart Ventures. She previously worked in the investment banking departments at both McDonald Investments and Smith Barney (now part of Citigroup), and in the sales and trading area at Morgan Stanley. She received her MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and her BA in Economics from Smith College. She currently serves on the board of the Fund for the Future of Shaker Heights, the Great Lakes Science Center and Summer on the Cuyahoga (SOTC).

Not quite a resolution (because I want to avoid the “breaking” curse), these are the most important things I’m going to prioritize this year, as they will directly impact my ability to deliver success for JumpStart. 

5) Monitor marketing news and trends every day. I use NetVibes to assist with monitoring blogs, Twitter, and news updates, in addition to my RSS feeds and email newsletters, but admit sometimes I’m catching up at the end of the week. The thing is, every time I check, I see one thing that is valuable right then. I hate the idea that I’m losing days in which those ideas can prompt and enhance my thinking. After reading David Carr’s Why Twitter Will Endure - NYTimes.com from the Times last Sunday, I’m wondering if I should focus some time on following the right folks on Twitter and leave it at that…

4) Reconnect with my network. I’ve spent time re-establishing professional connections through LinkedIn, but for a while now, the list has been sitting relatively fallow. (I would hypothesize this is somewhat common unless someone has sales responsibilities or is working to obtain or fill a position). But what a wealth of people with whom to brainstorm, tackle problems, and gain best-practice examples or new ideas! When was the last time I called someone to get caught up on responsibilities, most recent business challenges, and best new thing learned? Hard to believe this wouldn’t be richly worth the 10 minutes.

3) Create a mobile plan. Yes, this has been a long time coming, and many businesses are already  utilizing mobile tools to connect richly with consumers or customers. (In fact, Knotice’s Concentri product is one of the most robust around for cohesively marketing to consumers via mobile, Internet, and other customized points of connection. (Full disclosure: Knotice is a JumpStart Ventures portfolio company). Creating a plan for our email communication and website to become more mobile-friendly has been on the list for over 6 months; now that I’ve read Morgan Stanley’s Mobile Internet report which indicates — among other things – that more people will connect to the internet via mobile devices instead of desktops within 5 years, a more thorough strategy is due.

2) Continue to evolve our social media strategy and implementation. Continuous planning, prioritization, and implementation is the way of the marketer’s world, but social media has put the disciplined, steady approach into hyperdrive. What we had decided to do 3 months ago is already worth reconsideration and perhaps even a change in approach. Given the time commitment that these tools require, monthly review and consideration is required.

1) Focus on insights. While the world is always changing, this stays the same: insight regarding the needs and wants of our audiences, consumers, customers, and constituents should drive what we do. In a small entrepreneurial firm without a formal research group, it’s easy to slip in into believing all people think a certain way because you have talked to a handful of people who share an opinion. And now that it’s so much easier than ever to gain small and large insights formally or informally on a much more regular basis, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t be asking and gaining new insights on a monthly basis. With that – look for more questions from us about how we can better meet YOUR needs. (You can start with suggestions and ideas by commenting on this blog!).

What’s on your list?

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.

When I was a kid growing up in the ‘70s, my environmentalist parents would take my sister and me on vacation trips to various national parks across the country, mostly in the West. How embarrassing to admit I was less than impressed by these trips, because I was a smarmy 8 or 9 year old and really just wanted to be at my friend’s pool. At this time, I think one of the badges of honor of folks like my parents was to wear a t-shirt, available at each of these parks, with language that followed a standard structure : “Follow me to…” with the name of the park or its biggest landmark on there (”Follow me to Old Faithful”, “Follow me to Glacier”, etc.) At the time, I could barely imagine wanting to follow anyone to any of these places, and I also couldn’t imagine being confident enough to ask someone else - visibly — to follow me anywhere!

But here I am, asking you to follow me. Or rather, follow us, JumpStart. Not to a national park (although I’d love to be able to visit one of those parks now), but in the 2009 use of the term, to follow our 140 character communications on Twitter. Just sign on, search JumpStartInc, and click follow. Easy as pie.

I’ve written a few posts in the past about Twitter, whether it was sticking around, and whether it’s the right place for various activities to occur (such as pitching investors). You’ll also notice that JumpStart didn’t jump into the game as fast as some other organizations. This wasn’t because we didn’t value it, or think that it couldn’t have any good uses. On the contrary: we wanted to make sure that if you gave us the honor of following us, we’d pay it back with valuable, helpful content, delivered at the right time. We’d also work to spread your messages. That activity takes time, so we wanted to make sure we had a resource plan in place so that you aren’t disappointed by a start/stop approach, or frankly, overall lameness.

So now we are ready and going! And I think you will find @JumpStartInc to be the right place to get the news right now from the entrepreneurial, investing, and Northeast Ohio communities. So it’s not a t-shirt, but I’m asking anyway — follow me to @JumpStartInc, and start following JumpStart today.

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.