Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

My name is Janet Johnson, and I’m a pseudo-blogger.  What’s worse, I’m not following my own advice, and I’m feeling ashamed. 

Anyone who knows me knows I take great pride in being a blogger.  Yet I’ve been suffering from Gross Blog Neglect.  I’ve not been a blogger since I left Marqui. 

I tell audiences all the time:  if you don’t blog 2-3 times a week, you’re not a blogger.   As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve blogged only occasionally. 

So here’s a post to catch everyone (who might still care) what I’ve been doing and what I’m up to now - since September of 2006.

October 2006 - launched janetleejohnson.com, in conjunction with O’Johnson Partners, a marketing consultancy borne of part inspiration (thanks Pamela Jones and Kerry Kelley) and part timing (thanks to being born in 1957, a watershed year).

Spoke at the Advanced Learning Institute on blogging (lucky me, I’ve been invited back to Chicago in April to do it again), and at the Blog Business Summit in Seattle.  As I look back to October posts, I was pretty much a real blogger then, sharing the love and blogging my experiences.

My clients were:  SnapNames, ITS Systems, and SoMA Designs (thank goodness for early adopters!) and they got me through the early “can I really do this?” stage of starting a business.

I networked a ton.  There’s no substitute for engaging your friends and colleagues when you’re starting a new endeavor, people genuinely want to help people. 

November 2006 - Added clients Saltmine (helping Intel’s Software Network) and the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum, and continued to work for SnapNames and SoMA.  I was especially proud of the ISN work - the link above will take you to the recommended redesign of their blog site that we worked on - a HUGE improvement over the previous “home grown” version. And during that time I was happy to help OEF through a two-month search for a fabulous new marketing resource.

We sold our condo in the Pearl, and were able to breathe a little more easily that we weren’t carrying two mortgages any more.  Whew, as that had been going on since April, through a job change and all…  (Note: never will we ever buy a home before we sell our existing home again.)

December 2006 - Jammed on strategy for Saltmine/ISN, SnapNames and SoMA.  Started working with a wonderful group of people working on WorldPulse, an organization that will truly change the world for women and children.

Frankly, on December 31, I was happy to put 2006 behind - not that it had been so bad, but there had been a ton of stress that was surrounding our lives that I really don’t miss. And believe me, I know how fortunate I am in my cozy, warm, loving home.  But perception is reality, and I was glad for the turn of the year.

January 2007 - SnapNames continues to keep me busy and extremely happy - their market is pretty confusing to anyone who’s not familiar with the “domain name” industry (web site addresses); but they have the very best reputation in the industry, and I continue to believe they have golden pearls available to marketers.  We’re working to get the word out about the 10,000 domain names that come through their auctions every day. 

Saltmine work wound down for awhile, but I was fortunate to pick up work for OpenMake Software (formerly Catalyst Systems) and my old boss - Stephen King’s - new company.  They are revolutionizing the way software is built and delevered into production.  I got to know Barbara Stewart, from Patterson & Associates, a Scottsdale-based PR agency through Stephen.  She is a wonderful resource, and a delightful woman.

In addition, I was very pleased to start working for Chockstone, an extremely innovative loyalty and gift card provider with more than 30,000 installations in North America.  Holly Files, friend and mentor, became their COO last year.

At this point, I told my love I felt there was a freight train a ‘coming…

February 2007 - I continue to be fortunate in my work.  And am so amazingly lucky in my life, my love, and my family of friends.  I have never worked harder than I am working now.  My challenge is to give only my best to my clients.  And to continue to stay ahead of trends, pushing the worlds of marketing and the use of technology for their benefit.

I was recently on a panel here in Portland for a local entrepreneurs group, StarveUps.  One of their questions was “why do you blog?” 

My answer kind of surprised me, given my gross blog neglect… “to give back.”

So I’m going to re-engage in this grand communication platform.  Starting tonight.  I hope you’re still waiting around for RSS feeds of my thoughts. 

Thank you for the opportunity to give back.  I am so fortunate to have so much…

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