Note: I aim to post quarterly career updates. This update covers Q4 2009.

For a guy who’s made his living as a journalist and marketing copywriter since 2001, I did surprisingly little writing in the fourth quarter of 2010.

I decided this summer that punchin’ the clock in a Fortune 500 cubefarm was not for me, and I gave it up on October 5. My initial intention was to build my freelance copywriting business, but before going full-time freelance I took a gig as Social Media Marketing Manager at Bulbstorm.

So, if not writing copy, what have I been up to? Here’s what:

• Managing the 90,000-strong Facebook presence for Ruiz Foods brands Tornados and El Monterey
• Monitoring developments in social media, particularly the ever-changing Facebook platform
• Serving as product manager for Bulbstorm’s Fan Ideas application launched in November
• Marketing Bulbstorm itself – whatever that means from one day to the next

More concretely, here are a few highlights of the last quarter:

• Providing social media “air cover” for Tornados’ brand new NASCAR sponsorship (see article below)
• Playing my part in the viral success of our Fan Ideas app on El Monterey’s Facebook fan page (6,000+ unique visitors and 2,000+ ideas shared in just days)
• Guiding the launch of our Bulbstorm for Business web pages
• Getting a small shout-out for Bulbstorm in the Wall Street Journal’s startup blog

Overall, it was an exciting quarter with plenty of opportunities to learn and few opportunities to write. The coming quarter promises to offer more of the same. We’re definitely in growth mode and the marketing “department” should expand to two people by the end of January.

Maybe there’ll be more time for writing in 2010. On second thought, maybe not …

(If you really miss reading my copy, check out my Stewart-Hass Racing newsletter article on Tornados’ social media efforts below.)

I spent the better part of two years learning business in a classroom. At night, my MBA program transported me to the corner office of a CEO. And every morning, I returned to the corporate cubicle of a B2B marketing copywriter.

I am not a CEO. I never will be a CEO. But I’ve had the ear of a number of CEOs, suits and assorted big shots as a business writer for Phoenix Magazine.

Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll share a few things I learned during these interactions. Up first …

Oregano’s Pizza Bistro: It’s hard to protect a good brand from the market.

When Oregano’s Pizza Bistro announced a $25.5 million merger with publicly-traded Restaurant Acquisition Partners last year, many fans were in a tizzy.

Would the leisurely pace of a perfectly-prepared pizza be slashed for efficiency? Would the cheeky attitude that spawned ad slogans like “Size Matters” and “Passion of the Crust” be tamed for a broader audience?

Some longtime fans may have even recalled how the move from privately-owned eatery to publicly-traded chain scuttled the Garcia’s of Scottsdale brand in the early 1990s.

When I met with him last summer, Oregano’s CEO Mark Russell assured me that his partners loved the Oregano’s concept as is. Private or public, the Oregano’s brand would remain grounded in strong customer service, quality food at reasonable prices, and a lively atmosphere based in nostalgia for 1940s Chicago.

But Richard Lipson had his doubts. Lipson helped take Garcia’s public in 1983 only to see his successors dilute the brand and file for bankruptcy 10 years later. “Eventually you lose sight of the big picture,” he warned. “You get caught up in the stock price.”

P.F. Chang’s, Kona Grill and Ra Sushi all expanded out from Scottsdale without succumbing to the market pressures that devoured Garcia’s. Now that the Oregano’s merger seems to have been shelved, I wonder how they’d have fared.

What do you think? Ten years after a merger, would Oregano’s still be Oregano’s — or would it be another Olive Garden? What could the organization do to protect its brand? Post your thoughts in the comments below!

Further reading: Phoenix Magazine | Another Slice of the Pie (October 2008)

This article originally appeared as a guest post on Brian Camen’s excellent The PR Practitioner blog.

A corporate reorganization left my manager and me – both marketing copywriters by trade – as stewards of the media relations program for a Fortune 500 enterprise in Phoenix, Arizona. Our company had historically shied from media coverage. But, despite limited resources, we wanted to transform our minimalist approach into a more proactive model.

At the start, our assets included a press release template, a process guideline for media engagement, and a pool of incredibly knowledgeable but far-flung subject matter experts (SMEs). That’s about it.

So, like most in this economy, we took a deep breath and got to work. These were our opening moves:

1. Pick the low-hanging fruit. With limited startup resources, we had to accept our limitations and identify and pursue easily achievable wins to gain momentum in our efforts. We simply didn’t have the manpower to pitch stories or build deep relationships with the media. So we patiently followed journalists on Twitter and browsed HARO e-mails and waited for a pitch to hit.

2. Secure executive buy-in. In some large companies, it’s easy to lose hours, if not days, in approvals. That dog won’t hunt for journalists on a 3 p.m. deadline. So we made the case for responsiveness and flexibility and streamlined our engagement process. Fortunately, our executives were very supportive—especially after we whetted their appetites with a handful of early wins.

3. Build a SME list. We’re blessed with a robust and deep pool of SMEs. Unfortunately, they’re spread from Boston to Chicago to Dallas to Phoenix, and that’s when they’re at their desks and not in the field. Plus, our industry is pretty technical. So we had to assess the SMs for which we had SMEs, and then locate the SMEs. Our SME list enabled us to react quickly to media opportunities.

We didn’t do everything right. But we managed to keep the lights on while building relationships with local journalists. And we advanced long-term projects including an online media room and an introductory media kit.

Eventually the plan called for adding resources and scaling our fledgling operation into industry publications and key markets outside Arizona.

So how’d we do? Let me know if we missed any key steps – or low-hanging fruit – in building out our program.

I gave my two week’s notice at Insight on Monday with the intention of building my freelance copywriting business. However, a Phoenix startup I had hoped to cultivate as a freelance client asked me to join their staff.

Good bye, Fortune 500 copywriter. Hello, startup social media marketing manager.

My new employer is Bulbstorm. They aim to build an online community for companies and their customers to unite and share ideas for improving their products.

The main platform is online innovation communities on Bulbstorm.com, but the company is working to add their innovation technology to Facebook fan pages. They also offer agency-esque social media services to clients.

Bulbstorm found me by googling Phoenix Marketing Copywriter and landing on my freelance copywriting website. My experience with social media and blogging related to Echo from the Buttes particularly piqued their interest.

When I considered turning them down to focus on my freelance copywriting business, the CEO trash talked me on Twitter.

That got my attention and I signed on. Here’s to the future!

This post originally appeared on the Commpose website.

Hot under collar./ Confronted by writer’s block. / Angry, you haiku.

I don’t get hot under the collar when a blank page is staring me in the face.

Neither should Commpose members after tackling creative writing exercises at our September meeting.

Inspired by my own efforts to stretch my creativity as a copywriter and overcome writer’s block, I presented writing exercises centered around:

• Reflective writing or journaling.
• Writing against constraints like time, space or structure.
• Writing to an abstract prompt like describing a color to the blind. (Thanks Kim!)

Our first challenge (inspired by Jason Baer) was to pitch our business in fewer than 100 Twitter-friendly characters. Melissa Balkon pitched her Strong Design Studio thusly:

Helping superstar small businesses make a strong impact on their market.

The exercise led to a great conversation about differentiating one’s business in words. (As a marketing copywriter, I was happy to participate!) The chat was so good, in fact, that it forced us to combine our final two drills into a single exercise.

So, we described the color red to someone who’d never seen it – using five-syllable, seven-syllable, five-syllable haiku form. Responses ranged thematically from steamy (Kim Stearns) to sports car sleek (Jen Halloran). This was Kim’s take:

Lust on a warm day / Fire of passion and anger / Pulsing blood through veins

Whoa whoa whoa waw!

So, if you’re interested in becoming a better writer, Commpose meetings are a good place to start. Our next meeting is October 20, so mark your calendars!

Click to learn more about the Commpose Business Copywriters Meeting!