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The Block before the House

 

Before there was a house, there was a block.

We’ll soon revisit the house, known as a Clubhouse.

We will start with the block party.

The block party was happening on Twitter.

And there was a new kid on the block, H&R Block.

Its icon was a plain, green block.

In March 2008, Twitter maybe had a million users.

It was not a good platform for scale yet.

It was not a place to amass an audience.

However, I was part of the team at the agency 360i that worked with the digital marketing leads at H&R Block to get them to be one of the first brands on Twitter.

The idea seems more intuitive now than it did in 2008. It was even less intuitive in the fall of 2007 when we had to pitch this ahead of the upcoming January-to-April tax season.

What Twitter lacked in users, however, it had in influence.

Maybe some people would talk about taxes. And maybe a few of them would talk about H&R Block. Maybe there would be conversations that would make sense for H&R Block.

We didn’t know.

In late 2007, barely anyone was going on Twitter and talking about going to a chain of tax preparation offices.

We had little research to back this up as a brilliant idea. It wasn’t necessarily a brilliant idea at all.

But we’d be there, we’d be responsive, and we’d use the platform in the best possible way that a national tax prep chain could use it.

It helped that the client team at H&R Block (Paula Drum, Amy Worley, Stacy Gratz) was the best. Hall of Fame best. They got it.

They were (and are) visionaries.

There weren’t a lot of people talking about H&R Block on Twitter that tax season.

If I recall correctly, H&R Block amassed about 500 followers by April 15 that year.

But what H&R Block didn’t gain in reach it gained in something more powerful: influence.

At the time, one of the biggest tech influencers was Robert Scoble. This was between his time as an evangelist for Microsoft and then Rackspace.

On March 27, Scoble headed into an H&R Block to get his taxes prepared.

I only know this because he tweeted about it.

H&R Block caught the post. The branded Twitter account wrote back, “Sending happy tax prep vibes your way. Make sure you tweet back and let us know how everything went.”

That was risky, mind you. Tax prep is touchy; it does not always go so well.

You can see why I love that client team.

Scoble responded“@HRBlock is on Twitter and is fast. There is your Twitter business model.”

We used that quote in our decks at 360i for years.

“We” might mean just “me.”

I used it a lot.

I still might.

I love that quote.

This brings me to the house.

I almost told that story this week in a room that Joe Jaffe put together on Clubhouse; he hosts a conversation every Monday at 2pm EST about brands on Twitter.

In the most recent edition, someone asked a question about the reach and scale that brands get out of Clubhouse.

I wanted to tell them about that day in 2008 that a tech influencer said about a tax preparation chain, “There is your Twitter business model.”

We see brands gravitating toward Clubhouse now — or, more accurately, brands’ executives, evangelists, and representatives.

Often, we don’t see brands. They’re listening. They’re thinking. They’re planning.

That is all good.

Clubhouse today isn’t a place for scale.

It isn’t a place for reach.

Rooms have size limits.

Conversations are unpredictable — and sometimes unpleasant.

Logos are too small.

Clubhouse does have assets going for it though.

Clubhouse is a place to influence influencers.

Those conversations often spread far beyond Clubhouse.

Relationships among Clubhouse room moderators, speakers, and attendees tend to extend far beyond Clubhouse.

Clubhouse today is about influence over scale.

It’s where you will find people who will appreciate a brand’s efforts and go, “There is your Clubhouse business model.”

You’re not going to find anyone going on Twitter today tweeting about a brand, “There is your Twitter business model.”

But you’ll hear that on Clubhouse.

You’ll see that on Twitter about Clubhouse.

You’ll read that in The New York Times about a tweet someone shared about Clubhouse.

Clubhouse is messy.

In the immortal words of Ms. Frizzle, Clubhouse is a place for brands to “take chances, make mistakes, get messy.”

Now’s your chance.

David

PS: Catch Rosie Yakob of Genius Steals as the guest in this week’s Upstream event Thursday at 12pm EST. RSVP here. She’ll give some ideas for how to spice up speed networking.

PS 2: I’ve had a few opportunities lately to share what I’ve learned as a marketer and community builder in some of my favorite outlets: Genius Steals in their Strands of Genius feature, B.L. Ochman who had me a guest on Beyond Social Media where I talked at length about building a community, and the ever-entrepreneurial Alex Romanovich who featured me on Global Edge Talk. Thank you all for trusting me to offer what bits of experience I have to your audiences.——————————————————-
BROUGHT TO YOU BY… ZOOMCOMPANYEVENTS
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For All Serial Marketers, ZoomCompanyEvents is offering a 20% discount off all Zoom Product Launches until the end of March.
(https://www.zoomcompanyevents.com).

For those who are interested in learning more, we have made a custom checklist for all Serial Marketers.
Get it here:  http://www.bit.ly/ZCEProductLaunch.

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LEARN. TRY. SHARE.
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Thanks to Jason GardnerB.L. OchmanKen SimonBoris PfiefferBen ZeidlerWendy Weatherford MarksOrlando TiradoRachael ToddSharon FederClaudia Strauss, and Chris Gorges for spreading the word about the newsletter recently.

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EVENTS
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Please submit any events you’re hosting to our calendar at https://serialmarketers.net/events/. All events below are virtual, and all times are EST.

SERIAL MARKETERS SALONS
Tuesdays, 3pm

RSVP on our private Meetup (request access if you’re not there)

SERIAL MARKETERS SPEEDUPS
Alternating Thursdays, 12pm
Join the virtual 1:1 rapid-fire speed-meeting event to connect with fellow Serial Marketers, hosted on the Upstream app.

SXSW ONLINE
March 16-20
I’m not sure if Stubb’s delivers to me, but I’ll be seeing if they can capture any of the magic with the online festival. “Register today to take advantage of the unique opportunities this event has to offer, including keynotes, Conference sessions, Music Festival showcases, Film Festival screenings, world-class networking, and the unexpected discoveries that are always a part of SXSW, all in a digital setting.”
https://www.sxsw.com/attend/

UNDOCK II LAUNCH EVENT
March 17, 1pm
Via David Altman in the community:
“Undock is building the most powerful calendar in the galaxy and we’re inviting you to our second launch event. Get the first glimpse at our super calendar and meet our lightning-fast meeting experience. This should be great fun and as a startup in public beta, we welcome you to join us.”
https://two.undock.com/

PERSONALIZE YOUR EMAILS WITH DYNAMIC NOTIFICATION BANNERS
March 18, 1pm
Via Randy Levy in the community:
“Notification banners are widely used on the web, but are rarely used in email marketing messages. That’s about to change in 2021. Join Zembula CEO, Robert Haydock, and Tom Buchok, CEO of MailCharts, for a discussion on bringing your emails up to speed with critical updates and hyper-personalized notification banners.”
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8116135231651/WN_WcR1jrx7T2iYmyGcvg9THQ

THE OMNICHANNEL IMPERATIVE
March 23, 11:30am
Marketers need to market the way consumers consume – and this requires an approach that spans across channels. Join Mediaocean, host Brian Morrissey, and guests Joanna O’Connell, Edward Norton, and Robert Smith to see how today’s innovators are enabling transformation.
https://www.mediaocean.com/omnichannel-imperative

WOMEN IN ECOMMERCE
March 25, 4pm
Via William Álvarez in the community:
“Registration for the second installment of our Women in eCommerce event is now open! We’re bringing together a great line-up of senior eCommerce executives, including the Chief Digital Officers of E.L.F. Beauty and WD-40, for another inspiring evening of conversations & connections.”
https://events.bizzabo.com/294862

“SMARKETING – SELL SMARTER, NOT HARDER” BOOK LAUNCH
April 7, 4pm
Via Christine Crandell in the community:
“I’m speaking at this book launch on sales/marketing alignment and every participant gets a book.” During this launch, Peter will share highlights of his book and key tenets of his proven methodology to align revenue teams for breakout success and sustainable sales performance.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkceCurjMqHdfkS3lRZPq4DEuiFjNrb6nr

FIRST WEDNESDAY
April 7, 6pm
First Wednesday keeps going strong. We have dozens of people RSVPing for this fun NYC tradition led by Zack Rosenberg.
https://www.meetup.com/Serial-Marketers/events/kszqsryccgbkb/

WHY YOU NEED A PERSONALITY BRAND
April 8, 12:30pm
Via Nancy Ruzow in the community:
“Why do so many of us feel reluctant to let our personality shine in business? Maybe it’s because we don’t know how. Danielle Hughes, founder of More Than Words Marketing, will help individuals learn how to develop their Personality Brand to stand out in a sea of sameness and a world of duplicates.”
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/why-you-need-a-genuine-personality-brand-tickets-129066458251

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JOBS
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Keep checking out the #jobs channel in Serial Marketers for more. Here are some great opportunities shared there or sent to me directly.

RAISE RIGHT
VP Marketing
Remote
A critical thinker who likes to optimize and story tell, the future VP of Marketing has:
*10+ years of lead generation marketing, has experience targeting B2B<->B2C and working with SMB’s. Also has experience in lifecycle marketing and customer onboarding
*Built out go-to-market strategies, is highly analytical, makes data-driven decisions and can correlate activities to direct ROI/revenue attribution
*Expertise in both inbound and outbound channels, including SEO, paid advertising, email marketing and earned media
https://app.huntclub.com/jobs/1924?share_token=PcodCfyyr1Yz93evqQdoZGYw

HI RIGHT NOW
Head of Marketing/Growth
Remote
Early-stage startup hiring a Head of Marketing/Growth, encompassing responsibility over revenue, performance marketing, partnerships, movement marketing, content, PR, and channel experimentation. We help creators, communities, and remote teams to powerfully bring their people together via speed 1:1 video chats.
https://www.notion.so/Head-of-Marketing-Growth-Remote-3e69682f450e44fe8daaba2156b11514

AZUL SYSTEMS
VP Marketing
Sunnyvale, CA or remote
Having proven success in building a lead generation “machine,” the future Vice President of Growth has:
*7+ years’ experience in B2B marketing, preferably with a high-growth SaaS company
*4+ years’ experience leading marketing (digital, demand generation, content) teams for SaaS companies
*Experience building and leading a high-performing and geographically-dispersed team
*Comfort building and owning the strategy, but also tactical execution
https://app.huntclub.com/jobs/1907?share_token=PcodCfyyr1Yz93evqQdoZGYw

More via Hunt Club
* AppsFlyer: Director of Growth Marketing (SF, remote)
* Nutrafol: VP of Brand Marketing (NY, remote)
* Tagger Media: Digital Marketing Manager (LA)
* Pernod Ricard: Senior Manager, Creative & Content
* ATW: Senior Director of E-Commerce (remote)

CHERRY BLOSSOM INTIMATES
Director of Marketing
Washington, DC
Via Stephanie Rich in the community:
“An amazing startup looking for a Director of Marketing to help them reimagine the post-mastectomy shopping experience.”
Responsibilities include developing, creating, and curating content that goes out on our social channels and email campaigns, and launching monthly marketing campaigns across digital platforms and the brick and mortar boutique.
https://www.notion.so/Careers-Cherry-Blossom-Intimates-7a39f664062340cfbbb1970929c112b6?p=1bd4fb39693b44f3b2c9cf118ed0ff97

FIRST BOULEVARD
Social Media Manager
Via Lia Zneimer in the community:
First Boulevard is a Digitally native, unapologetically Black, neobank built to eradicate the wealth gap in America. Black America has been underbanked, unbanked and underserved for centuries. First Boulevard empowers Black America to take control of their $1.4T in annual economic impact while also being fully inclusive and welcoming of all other communities.
https://blvd.breezy.hr/p/5081b9f5aa29-social-media-associate

CONEXIOM
Director of Product Marketing
Chicago
Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, you will help to continue to define and evangelize the Conexiom story. You will partner closely with teams across the organization, specifically Marketing, Sales, Product and Services to set positioning and messaging, build product launch strategies, run and analyze product releases, develop sales enablement content, and drive engagement through ongoing marketing programs.
https://app.huntclub.com/jobs/1935?share_token=PcodCfyyr1Yz93evqQdoZGYw

CATALYST/GROUPM
Various roles
Boston
Via William Álvarez in the community:
GroupM is the world’s leading media investment company responsible for more than $50B in annual media investment through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and m/SIX, as well as the outcomes-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis.
Paid Social Manager
SEO Manager
Search Marketing Project Director
Senior Paid Social Associate

CONSENSYS
Via Thomas Rush in the community:
“We’re hiring three marketing professionals for ConsenSys Mesh, a global blockchain investment and incubation firm with over 100 portfolio companies.”
NY, remote
Director of Brand
Editor, Insights & Thought Leadership
Senior Marketing Associate

TRADESWELL
Account Executive
Multiple locations
Via Liza Forbes in the community:
Tradeswell is looking for an intellectual and outgoing Account Executive to become the leading evangelist for the Tradeswell mission. Your goal will be to educate prospective customers on the broken and blurry reality around e-commerce and how to solve the biggest problems in the industry using Tradeswell.
https://angel.co/company/tradeswell/jobs/915903-account-executive

WHEREBY (formerly Appear.in)
* Director of Growth Marketing (remote US)
Revenue-driven growth marketer with proven success driving traffic and new user acquisition, the future Director of Growth has 5+ years of growth marketing experience from a B2B SaaS company, deep experience in owning full demand generation strategy to deliver on revenue goals, and strategic vision with a focus on tactical execution.

https://app.huntclub.com/jobs/1923?share_token=PcodCfyyr1Yz93evqQdoZGYw

* Director of Content (remote US)
A critical thinker who likes to optimize and story tell, the future VP of Marketing has 10+ years of lead generation marketing, experience targeting B2B<->B2C, and working with SMB’s. Also has experience in lifecycle marketing and customer onboarding.
https://app.huntclub.com/jobs/1924?share_token=PcodCfyyr1Yz93evqQdoZGYw

DORILTON CAPITAL
VP Digital Growth
Via Dan LaFontaine in the community:The VP of Digital Growth will help Dorilton’s portfolio companies systematize and scale revenue generation through digital channels. This “player-coach” will provide strategic advice to management teams and take ownership of executing transformational projects through hands-on support and oversight of Dorilton team members and third-party service providers.
https://www.doriltoncapital.com/careers?gh_jid=4967550002
Other job resources:

  • Advisable: Get instant access to top marketing freelancers
  • AMA Job Board: Listings from the American Marketing Association (maybe you can also ask them anything)
  • Beeler.Tech: Job listings for ad operations, programmatic account management, sales operations, and more.
  • Built in NYC: Jobs at a range of levels and functions, as long as you’re okay working in this quaint, backwater hamlet.
  • CareerList: Here’s a form for companies hiring and a form for job seekershere’s the public list with tabs for both
  • Content Writing Jobs: Content marketers, enjoy
  • Creative Women of Color: List yourself in the database and find talent, via Women Who Create
  • Demand Curve: Growth and marketing jobs
  • ExecThread: Senior roles spanning a range of verticals and cities; membership is free but fully vetted (this uses my referral ID to get you in faster)
  • Gently Ventures: Helps scale businesses by finding the right talent
  • GLG: Get paid to share your topical expertise; it can lead to some interesting conversations at a potentially decent hourly rate
  • Growth Collective: Apply to join this network of notable freelance marketers
  • Grace Blue Transitions: A portal for hirers and seekers with resources from this exec recruiting firm
  • The Hired Guns: An array of jobs in marketing and related fields at brands, agencies, and media companies
  • Hue: Amplifying voices of people in color working in marketing
  • Hunterz: A way for connectors to get paid to introduce startups to large enterprises
  • Lead5: A paid service for executive roles, plus intel on changes with companies and PE investments; you can try a risk-free weeklong trial to see if it’s any good for your needs
  • Lunch Club: Match 1:1 around predetermined goals with accomplished professionals (free)
  • NYC Ad Jobs & Networking: A popular Facebook group
  • One Club for Creativity: COVID-19 jobs Board
  • #OpenToWork: There’s a channel in Serial Marketers where you can share what you’re looking for
  • Pangea: Where you can hire college freelancers (and college students can get gigs)
  • Pocit: A platform connecting people of color with jobs in the tech industry
  • Remotists: Remote startup jobs, chronicled weekly
  • Sales Hustle Stack: Find platform-based gigs and other creative ways to earn some extra cash
  • Startup.Jobs: There’s a section for marketing jobs
  • Teal Job Tracker: A free Chrome extension to manage and enhance your job search
  • TechNY Daily: While more technical, there are also some sales and marketing jobs at NY startups.
  • VC Job Boards: AlephEniac VenturesPearSequoiaUnion Square Ventures
  • VentureLoop: Free startup job listings; their paid option is $15/month and might surface more leads (but it might not).
  • Venwise: Submit your job interests here and get in front of their roster of hiring leads; select “Serial Marketers” under “How did you find us”
  • Wanted: Wanted helps top talent in tech and marketing find a job at your desired pay.

Do you run or enjoy other job listing sites? Let me know, and I’ll share them.

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OFFERS (NEW SECTION)
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Below are offers extended to the Serial Marketers community. To share your own or access the Premium member discounts, review membership options here.

ReverseAds
Get 10% discounts on campaigns. ReverseAds reverses the search ad process, outperforming Google at a fraction of the cost. To redeem, contact Thom Feltz by email.

Northarc Media
Marc Lefton is offering brands a free one-hour consultation on your media mix to show how you can integrate programmatic. For agencies, you can get a free one-hour consultation on how to add programmatic to your service offerings. To redeem, contact Marc by email.

Secret
Sign up and use the promo code SERIALMARKETERS to get 20% off on any membership plan. Membership enables you to access all deals with unlimited usage. One deal should more than pay for itself.

Marpipe
Create an account and start a 7-day free trial for $125 in ad spend credit toward your first experiment with this multivariate testing platform. Redeem here. (Premium members get $175 in credit with a custom code)

Copysmith
Following a 7-day trial of this AI-powered marketing tool to generate ads, product descriptions, and more, use code SERIALMARKETERS for 35% off any plan for 3 months (premium subscribers get 50% off for 4 months).

Dokkio
Get lifetime access to this file management tech with three seats, all free. (Premium members get five seats; see the Slack channel for details and a custom link.)

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