Moments of Clarity

There Is No Secret School of Business

Whatever anyone tells you, there is no Secret School of Business or New World Order

My Strategic Marketing Plan

I'm pleased to announce that I've joined BirdDog (a part of the 14 year old Industry People Group, Inc.) as its Vice President of Marketing here in Urbandale, IA. BirdDog is a Candidate Acquisition & Management System for the Construction, Infrastructure, Engineering, and Facilities sectors. Watch the video below and check out the awesome animation work of Adam Beecher.

Many of you know that I've been spending most of my time there since June of this year in a full-time contract engagement. The early July announcement of my partnership with Andrew Clark (@thebrandchef) was the first phase of my transition to this new role.

The completion of BirdDog's round of funding from Dewaay Investment Partners I, LLLP announced a few weeks ago meant that I could execute the next part of the plan which was fully handing over all operations and client relationships, and taking a more public role at BirdDog. That process is complete. I cannot express enough gratitude to all the passionate clients and freelancers who propped me up and helped me build a success story. Thank you.

Some of you may ask, why? Small business in multimedia and web strategy...growing client base and revenues...low overhead and a recovering economy...etc. Well the decision didn't come lightly...but I had a nagging voice in the back of my skull that kept craving "focus". My body and brain were craving a nexus around which my efforts could orbit. After 3 years of cranking, a long term contract was the initial desire but the team here at BirdDog was such a great fit, the business plan was aggressive and well funded, that I couldn't pass this up.  I am truly getting to execute everything I did for 15 companies...inside one organization and toward one goal with a great team. This team is aggressive like a 14 year old start-up and anyone who knows me knows that I thrive in that environment.

I'd be lying if I said spending more time with my busier than ever family wasn't on my mind too. The timing was right for me to simplify things and reacquaint myself with being there and not just "being there". We're moving into a great new office at 2900 100th St. just up from Hickman this weekend and by Monday, my office will transform into a full blown multimedia studio as we ramp content production of all kinds. I welcome you to stop by and see what we're up to on this new adventure. Thank you so much for your support and know that you're in good hands with Andrew at createWOWmarketing. He's absolutely the perfect partner to keep creating WOW in Central Iowa.  

What about OperationRedState.com Doug? OperationRedState has always been a passionate pursuit and will continue to be so. It has always co-existed with our other work and projects and it will continue to do so. I still have an excellent team of content ninjas and strategists that develop winning online campaign strategies. ___________ I'm still speaking and would love to do more and I'm about 11,000 words into my new book "The Multi-Thread Marketer" and I anticipate its release in December/January time frame. This is my first full length business book and I find myself rising at ungodly early hours with chapters burning across my synapses. I can't wait to get this into the market and see how it does. I will print a few copies for hand outs at engagements...but this will primarily be ebook driven on iBook/Amazon/etc. Until we meet again in person or virtually, thank you.

 

Official Release Text:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact
Kelly Moore (for BirdDog)
515-720-9670
[email protected]

BirdDog Adds VPs as Part of Re-branding Effort

DES MOINES, Iowa (October 26, 2010) – Niche talent acquisition and management company BirdDog has added two vice presidents to its team of associates. The hires are part of a strategic re-branding the company has launched to expand its employer client base in the construction, infrastructure, engineering and facilities markets.

Doug Mitchell has joined BirdDog as vice president of marketing. In 2007, Mitchell founded interactive marketing firm createWOWmedia, which delivered marketing strategy and execution services to Iowa companies. The company, now createWOWmarketing, continues under the ownership of Des Moines marketing professional Andrew Clark, a.k.a. The Brand Chef.

Hailing from California where he spent five years as vice president of marketing for a technology company, Mitchell authored the ebook, “Confessions of an Ex-Enterprise Salesperson:  What I Really Meant When I Said _____,” and is currently writing “The Multi-Thread Marketer: How to Identify and Hire Marketing Leaders in the Hyper-Economy,” which is scheduled for a December 2010 release.

“Doug’s experience in driving demand and customer engagement through online media is precisely what this company needs,” said Marc Sampson, BirdDog’s founder and CEO, “Thanks to Doug’s expertise, BirdDog has already made a quantum leap forward in its marketing efforts.”

Now BirdDog’s vice president of business development, Scott Prohaska has worked closely with engineering, oil and gas, refining, petro-chemical and power plant customers throughout his career. A mechanical engineer, Prohaska spent more than 11 years with Emerson Electric where he held various positions, including hiring manager. In this position, Prohaska sourced, recruited, hired and managed engineers, sales specialists, mechanics and service technicians. As such, he is uniquely qualified to understand what is important to BirdDog employer clients.

Like Mitchell, Prohaska is a former business owner. Prior to joining BirdDog, he owned and operated L.R.S., a high performance parts and race chassis manufacturing company, as well as Magnum Fabrication, a manufacturing and service-based business.

Mitchell and Prohaska will work toward several goals that come as a result of BirdDog’s recent influx of funding, led by DeWaay Investment Partners I, LLLP. The pair will drive market and customer development, as well as execute an extensive interactive marketing campaign for BirdDog’s candidate acquisition and management system.

About BirdDog
Founded in Des Moines in 1997 as Industry People Group, BirdDog hunts and retrieves specialized candidates then tracks and manages them through to the hire in the construction, infrastructure, facilities and engineering industries. The company powers niche job boards BirdDogJobs.com, MEPjobs.com, ASHRAEjobs.com, and AGCiajobs.com, connecting employers with jobseekers online. In addition, BirdDog offers a robust Web-based tool providing employers with simplified cross-posting and paperless management tools, reducing the time and investment required to bring top talent on board. For more information, visit birddogjobs.com or follow on Twitter @birddog_jobs.

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Join me next Wednesday at 6PM for a talk called: Help! My Business Is Invisible - Increasing Your Internet Findability Factor

 Yours truly will be giving a talk for the New Iowa Entrepreneurs Coalition Meet Up Group next Wednesday, November 19th at 6PM.  Click here for full details and to RSVP and/or Join this meet up group.

Description of the talk is below.  I hope to see you there meeting, interacting, and building relationships with other progressive Iowa entrepreneurs.

HELP!!! - My Business is Invisible
Increasing Your Internet “Findability” Factor
6:00 PM - Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Ask 100 people, "What's the first place you look to find a business or information on a business?" and 98 will say Google. Yet phone book ads, glossy brochures, and static "cobweb" sites still make up the bulk of many small and medium sized company marketing budgets. Break out of the old routine and hear some low cost - high impact organic Internet marketing strategies that will give your firm a fighting chance online. Doug Mitchell, Founder of createWOWmedia (www.createwowmedia.com) will show you how to increase your Internet Findability Factor and amplify your online brand with a focus on web video and multimedia.

Location

E-Myth Coaching Center

6000 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50312
515-288-6984

Come and learn with me through the robust QA that I KNOW will break out.  If you're already "in the know" or a super web traffic findability guru...please come and share your knowledge with the crowd through the QA and interaction. 

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The Power of Networking, Relationships, and Referrals

Last night I attended a talk given by Tom Steen over at Bank Iowa.  (notice the feedback in the right column if you click into that site link...it's excellent!)

During our self-intros around the room, someone mentioned the possibility of franchising their business.  From the tone and big exhale when it was mentioned, I could tell that the concept of franchising...while exciting and invigorating...was also a nightmare of what-ifs.

I sought this person out afterward intentionally to refer her to my attorney and franchise specialist Rush Nigut.  Rush's expertise in this area is undeniable and documented.

I told her I knew the right one for the job, she said, "Oh wow you're about the 6th person in the last few months who's referred me to him...wow!"  (nice work Rush)

There were other attorney's in the meeting.  I overheard them approach her as well with referrals to lawyers in MN, etc.  While I'm sure those attorneys are excellent, she said, "You know I already have someone right here in Des Moines who's widely recommended." 

That's the POWER of relationships that spawn referrals during networking events. 

(She's never met Rush by the way...but I bet she feels like she has)

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Ignite Des Moines - Promotional Video from create WOW media

The create WOW media team crafted a nice promo/recap video of the Ignite Des Moines event hosted by Daniel Shipton at Impromptu Studio in Des Moines.

Enjoy.

Ignite Des Moines Promotional Video @ Yahoo! Video

Who told everyone in my highschool class about Facebook over the last few months

Image via WikipediaI've been commenting to my wife that it seems everyone has discovered Facebook...in the last 90 days.  In that time, no less than 30 people have "found me" there.  People from high school are crawling out of the woodwork and connecting.  My wife has been on for a while but she's experiencing the same thing.   I brought this topic up in my Blogging Class and people started snickering that it's true for them too.

Is this massive Facebook land rush happening in my world alone?  Are there others out there who are being deluged by friends and other random people they've not heard from in years?

I'm really blown away by this.  It makes me wonder if those "find your classmates" reunion sites are headed out of business due to this "insta-connect" Facebook world.

I've started using it more lately due to this pull effect.  By default having to log in and confirm/deny connections has made me more aware of what Facebook is offering these days.

In fact, I found out some friends were engaged first....before anyone else...since I was in Facebook and saw that they'd changed status.  I'm always the last to know (pay attention) to these things.

It felt kinda good to be in the know.  Thanks Facebook.

I look forward to connecting with more of you all soon.   

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Part 1 of my Podcast with Adam Steen of 25 Connections

We just released part I of my Podcast interview with Adam Steen of 25 Connections.  We got together to discuss the power of networking and relationships and what that means in our current economy.

Adam is in the business of connecting people but he's not just a slick networking guru.  Adam believes in the kind of networking that uncovers hidden business opportunities and matches resources...with opportunity.

Take a listen and subscribe to our createWOWmedia feed to get all of the future pieces of the interview as well as some other great ideas on how to leverage multimedia in your business.

Click here to visit the post and listen to the podcast.

 

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Check out Brett Rogers and see how following your passion can open doors

I saw this video piece on Brett Rogers and was really impressed.  I've seen the art from his phone...I'd NOT actually appreciated that he was creating his imagery on such a small "canvas".  Wow.  For those of you who've not seen what Brett does....he creates artwork using the drawing pad feature on an LG Dare cell phone.  Mind you the screen is roughly a 2 inch square.  Fascinating.

Take a look and see what a passion for the "artsy" side of cell phones can do for you.  I hope you end up not only with free cell phone usage...but as a paid marketing consultant who discovered a brand new niche market by following his passion.

Nice work.  Keep it up.

http://www.kcci.com/video/17849448/

Brett's blog found here.

Introducing createWOWmedia

Hi folks:
The team has been working on some very exciting things here at Midwest Command.  Over the last year, we've been producing robust multimedia content for our Interactive Learning Environments (ILE).  We had many firms contact us and ask if we could do the same for them.  They asked us to:

1. Turn so so presentations, marketing material, speaking engagements, and documents into rich multimedia with sound, voice over, imagery, and professional appearance.
2. Shoot company intro videos that capture the mojo of their brands in video that is "good enough for the web".  Flaming fireballs optional.
3. Create robust and good looking blog based corporate websites for them that had a bunch of great organic Search Engine Optimization tools (SEO) working for them behind the scenes. 
4. Create Interactive Learning Environments so businesses extend their brands and digital product offerings globally online.
5. Develop web video strategies and some stock "intros and outros" that companies can reuse over and over again.
6. Help them understand the online world, social media, and their online BUZZ. 

We have been working under the radar to form www.createWOWmedia.com

createWOW provides Brand Amplification to small and medium businesses through  multimedia, blogging and social media, and Interactive Learning Environments.

Ask your small business owner friends how much their "Yellow Pages" ads cost per month? Ask the same group how many of them go to the Yellow Pages to look up services/products available themselves?  Could that resource be re-tasked? 

It's a pleasure to work with SMB's.  I know they get the shaft sometimes when it comes to these kinds of services because their budgets are small and their dreams are big.  Well we're tired of you being on the receiving end of the shaft...and believe its our job to help you take advantage of as much of this technology as makes sense for you.  We know how to provide IMPACT and RESULTS on a budget.  It's how we've modeled our own business and we believe you should get the same treatment.

We're already making an impact locally.  Feel free to contact Ryan @ Nutrisport - Full Potential Training and ask him what it's like to do business with the createWOW team.

If you can spare a couple minutes, please watch some of our videos in the products and services section of the site. 

Blogging For Business Class now being offered in Des Moines also

Image via Wikipedia

Starting Oct 21 - Nov. 14, I'll be in front of another group of progressive business leaders eager to understand the key aspects and tools used in social media marketing in Des Moines.  (West Des Moines class starts on September 24).  The Blogging for Business class is offered through the Des Moines Community Education program and it's VERY affordable. (Most likely $50).

Spread the word to friends, blog lurkers, and business leaders you know if they'd like to get a great lay of the blogging land...along with a great quiver full of other tools to become findable on the web.

The class will take place Tuesdays from 6:30pm-8:30pm and will last 4 weeks. 

Watch for the catalogs to show up in your newspapers and/or mailboxes. 

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