SEMpdx Searchfest 08 Mini-Interview: Janet Johnson (O’Johnson Partners)

Janet will be speaking on the “Marketing 2.0 Issues: Online Reputation Management, the dark side of SMM” panel at Searchfest which will take place on March 10th, 2008 at the Portland Zoo. Purchase your Searchfest 08 tickets now.

1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living.

I took my first cell phone call in 1973, as an operator for AT&T; and knew very early on that wireless communications was an amazing concept. I’ve spent 23 years in technology and telecommunications – working in sales, marketing and business development. I was VP of Marketing for two software companies in the Portland area; Merant (now Serena) and most recently Marqui (now a regional Vancouver, BC service provider). I’m currently consulting for NW businesses, and am working harder (and having more fun) than ever. Mostly, I spend time talking the value of technology to marketers, and talking the value of marketing to technologists. They’re so aligned, yet they speak such different languages. My job is to be a bridge to successful collaboration and alignment. I am an advocate of (and consult on) such esoteric acronyms as SEMPR. My website is a blog.

2) Please define the term “blog evangelist” and describe the value such a person can add to an organization.

Back in the olden days (I’m talking 2004); it was important to have someone inside a business (understanding the objectives of the organization) who recognized the value of engaging the blogosphere. That was a “blog evangelist,” one who would translate the power of engagement in the blogosphere to business objective. When I got involved, no one understood what the power of consumer generated media (CGM) could bring to traditional, integrated marketing campaigns. Now, I’m happy to say, most businesses have heard of blogs, and are now trying to figure out how blogs can help them. (Hint: SEMPR!) Today, most businesses just need fact-based information to help them understand how to engage in their markets. The psychological barriers to entry are much lower than even three years ago, when I was a pioneering “business blogger” for Marqui.

3) In 2008, would you pay bloggers to blog about your product / service? In hindsight, was the Marqui experiment a good or bad idea?

I believe today in my heart and soul that Marqui’s “paybloggers” experiment was a huge success. Never mind that it started an ethical debate in the blogosphere. From an awareness perspective, the results were quite stunning. In November of 2004, we had an “awareness index” (as measured by Google results), of 2048. We announced our intention of paying bloggers to blog about us, and the resulting controversy zoomed our Google results to more than 245,000.

That’s a 1000% increase in awareness in one press release! Would you argue it was a bad idea at that point?

I quickly learned (in trying to manage and keep up with the conversations) that it was much more important to do your own talking than to let others talk for you. Our Marqui’s World blog quickly became a center for business blogging. A white paper I wrote (Gross Blog Anatomy – contact me for a copy) became a textbook piece for universities around the US. And I was quickly inundated in the questions businesses really needed to know about managing their interactions in this new marketing medium.

Three years later, I’m a confirmed blogger. I believe in the power of the blogosphere. Whether you’re in the bullseye, being called ‘pond scum’ by sleazy competitors; or being right in the eye of the storm, making scintillating points in the public domain… being “in” the blogosphere is strategically important to business – even when it’s your last post.

I’m now lucky enough to make a living helping others realize it all. Nothing makes me happier.

It’s like plugging into the Kalama circuit in 1973, knowing you’re about to pick up a “mobile” call – treading dangerously close to the edge of marketing… That’s where I am in my bliss…