Note: I aim to post quarterly career updates. This update covers Q2 2010.

I’ve owed this blog a quarterly update for over five weeks now. Needless to say, it’s been a busy few months full of exciting growth at Bulbstorm.

Since April, Bulbstorm has more than doubled in size. Fortunately, much of the hiring has been in areas to which I’ve contributed out of necessity rather than skill.

In theory, I’ll soon focus more on my role as Marketing Director and less on sales, product management, and client execution. Passing the baton has come slowly, but it is coming. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Media relations: Third-party coverage has been critical to uncovering new business opportunities. Since April, we’ve secured coverage in Inside Facebook, Social Times, PR Week, Jay Baer’s Convince & Convert, CPG Branding, and more. (Check out my Social Times post: 4 Reasons Marketers Should Add Badges to Social Apps.)

Sales support: As interest in our flagship Facebook application grew in Q2, I found myself on the phone – a lot. We needed somewhere to drive prospects seeking more info. So, I scripted and recorded a five-minute demo of our app. If you’re still not sure what we do, the Idea Challenges video demo is a rough but comprehensive intro.

Client execution: Tornados and El Monterey – with a combined 250,000 Facebook fans – are still top priorities for Bulbstorm. They continue to drive serious growth and engagement on Facebook to emerge as leaders in the consumer goods industry. We’ve also added a number of new clients including Intel, which seeks consumer feedback on a new product in the Intel Phone of Tomorrow Challenge.

Oh, and Bulbstorm is not done growing. We’re still looking for talented, management-level teammates in marketing (and elsewhere). If you or someone you know is up for the challenge, please let me know!

So, that’s a quick rundown on the ins and outs of my career in Q2. Be on the lookout for my Q3 update sometime around Christmas!

Note: I aim to post quarterly career updates. This update covers Q1 2010.

As a gardener, I know it takes months to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor. You work the earth. You sow seeds. You water and weed and water and weed. And, eventually, you harvest.

At Bulbstorm, the first quarter of 2010 was a lot like gardening. We launched our most scalable product yet, created new marketing programs and content, and systematized business processes to prepare for a bountiful 2010.

The payoff came earlier than expected as a pair of influential blogs brought us new attention in early April. First, our work was recognized by influential blogger Jay Baer, who said our latest app is “better than anything else I’ve seen on Facebook.” And, one week later, our app received top billing in Inside Facebook. Wow!

Here’s how I contributed to our collective success in Q1:

• Product management: I oversaw the development and launch of our biggest, most scalable product yet. Our Idea Challenges app extends Bulbstorm’s idea platform into Facebook. Take a test drive in our $1,000 healthcare idea challenge!
• Marketing: When I came aboard in October, we had no marketing collateral and no B2B web presence. In the first quarter, we launched our blog, sent our first e-eblast and completely overhauled our homepage. See the before and after below.
• Project coordination: In addition to leading projects for four different client brands, I spent considerable time “systemicizing”. That meant streamlining task lists, documenting processes, and generally making projects easier – and more profitable – to execute.

Growth is definitely the key word for the second quarter. In the marketing department alone, we’re looking to add one or two talented, management-level teammates.

One is probably a numbers person with experience recommending, implementing and monitoring analytics and reporting tools. The other is probably a social media and Web 2.0 hotshot with a technical background and a finger on the web’s pulse well beyond Twitter and Facebook.

Sound like someone you know? Drop me a line! We’re going to need a few more hands tending to the Bulbstorm garden in the quarters to come.

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 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!