I am completely FIRED UP to announce that the world’s leading software vendor is my newest client.

The project involves working with a specific set of Microsoft partners to help them develop a Word-of-Mouth and Social Media Marketing strategy (using the 6 step process).

Our goal, of course, is to generate services revenue for the partners and net new software sales for Microsoft.

Having spent almost 6 years working within MSFT, I am excited to combine my passion for marketing and technology with the understanding I have of Microsoft’s business and operations.

I am completely FIRED UP to announce that the world’s leading software vendor is my newest client.

The project involves working with a specific set of Microsoft partners to help them develop a Word-of-Mouth and Social Media Marketing strategy (using the 6 step process).

Our goal, of course, is to generate services revenue for the partners and net new software sales for Microsoft.

Having spent almost 6 years working within MSFT, I am excited to combine my passion for marketing and technology with the understanding I have of Microsoft’s business and operations.

Jonny Goldstein is one of the DC area’s leading social media reporters/analyst/thinkers and his weekly live show is part of the scene.

As I’ve said, it’s a great compliment when someone puts his micro-brand on the line and asks for your input/appearance on a piece of media.

Jonny had me on his show once before (on one of my favorite topics-Perpetual Beta) and invited me back again, specifically to talk about marketing Frank Naif’s new book “Super Secret Bungling and Crookery: National Security Drone.”

The video is about 1 hour long, but has some interesting twists (including a call from Jonny’s wife asking if she should call 911 re: some disturbances outside and Scott Stead reading all of Johnny Bunko during the filming of the show.)

Here’s the link to the video

As an Internet marketing company, we're always looking to work with the smartest and most insightful people we can find. It's important that we stay on the cutting edge. Jeremy is helping us do just that.

We hired Jeremy to guide us in expanding our social media strategy.

In a short time, he has us focused on what is important -- our story-- rather than just diving in and setting up another blog or Facebook account.

Through fun working sessions, he has helped solidify our social media strategy. Now, we can engage in conversations with our constituents across the social media space with confidence and clarity of purpose.

We've found Jeremy to be a very effective consultant and will surely use him again.

Dan Kaplan, PMP
Vice President, Operations
TruePresence.com

Associations are a big business in the DC area.

Had the opportunity to write a feature article for the American Society of Association Executives’ Marketing Insights e-Newsletter this month.

It’s password protected, but two people already gave some good feedback (scroll down on the link page) and one blog showed some serious ‘link love.’

Jim Kukral is a leading internet marketer and has been around online as long as I have (maybe longer).

I was honored to be his podcast guest on the topic of Social Media and marketing.

Take a listen and subscribe to his blog (but don’t hire him instead of me, because he is not THAT good ;-)

It’s always nice when a client writes a nice testimonial. But when that client (Dan Pink) is a NY Times best-selling author, well, the words just flow…

Here is Dan in his own words:

“Jeremy Epstein is one of the savviest marketing minds I've encountered in a long time. It's a been a pleasure working with him the last six months.

I brought on Jeremy to help me spread the word about my latest book, THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO. Since this book was different from my previous books, I knew I needed a marketing approach that was equally different. And since I wasn't exactly an expert in the burgeoning world of social media, I needed someone who was. Jeremy answered the call.

He explained both the meta ("Marketing is about gasoline, not matches") and the micro ("Here's why Twitter is cool") of this new world and formulated a first-rate strategy for using these new media to reach readers and, ultimately, to sell books. He took charge of the Johnny Bunko website, configuring it in a way to increase reader participation and engagement. (One of his most ingenious ideas was to release a couple of pages from the book every few days in the hopes of luring readers in -- a strategy he called "drip irrigation" and that I've shamelessly stolen.)

Even more important, he monitored the numbers for the site -- and based on those data, tweaked and reconfigured the site to maximize its value. When we hit a few technical snags, he found the world's greatest guru for our web software -- and proved to be an astonishingly skilled project manager as well. He also created the Johnny Bunko fan page on Facebook, which quickly attracted several hundred members.

Jeremy also pushed me in a way most consultants never do.

Because of him, I'm on Facebook -- and I'm beginning to understand the site's unique advantages. Because of him, I am leaving comments on more and more blogs -- and that's proving to be an incredible way to connect with readers. Because of him, I'm using Twitter -- and, at last, I get it. (I've also grown surprisingly skilled at expressing myself in precisely 140 characters -- no more, no less -- as this little sentence proves.) One of my own personal evaluations of working with people is whether they teach me something new or push me to perform at a higher level. On this dimension, Jeremy is a star.

Even at the early stages of our relationship, I was impressed by his fresh approach. For instance, he insisted on tying his compensation to sales of the book, a risky move in a tough business like publishing. But he wanted our interests to be perfectly aligned. And he believed so deeply in his strategy that he wanted a piece of the upside.

Jeremy is an outstanding strategic thinker, who isn't afraid to muck around in tactics. And he's a skilled tactician who never loses sight of the broader strategy. He delivered the goods. He taught me a huge amount about social media. He's even a nice guy.

I'd hire him again in a second.”

If everybody is their own channel today, and every channel recognizes the need to deliver high quality content…or become irrelevant (like Diana), then I can safely say I am honored that Paul and Kady, two social media rockstars of the DC scene chose to interview me at the solid DC Twin Tech event last week. (RSS readers, click here)

Check out DCPiazza site.

Adam Schorr, my client at JNJ offers up the following testimonial. Thank you!

“Working with Jeremy was a great experience. He is very smart and knows his stuff. More importantly, he comes with an open mind and an extremely high level of passion and energy. The presentation he gave to my team was one of the best I have ever seen. As I commented on to the group, I never felt the need to pick up my Blackberry during his talk. I was too engaged.

Jeremy has gotten me to think in a whole new way and I thoroughly enjoy the intellectual partnership we are building. I look forward to continuing to work with him.”

So, the other night, I had the opportunity to be a guest (along with my buddy, Jason-he of the famous networking gaffe-but a great example of a guy who has reinvented himself, see his blog) on Jonny Goldstein’s very popular weekly Internet TV show.

The topic: “The Perpetual Beta of Your Story”

 

I’ve justified a lot of my recent posts under the rubric of “perpetual beta.”

• My evolving sales process
• The “story” I tell (authentically, of course) to differentiate myself and have clients remember me (and here’s beta 2).
• Getting site feedback for the best user experience
• How I position my interactive discussion for groups
• thoughts on effective networking
• who is the true audience for the Jer979.com site?
• and even helping my client, JNJ, with their Purell messaging

The basic idea is:

if I am willing to put myself out there a bit and risk appearing less than 100% perfect, the rewards I will get in terms of community feedback are completely worth it.

I’d rather have my community of readers tell me something is stupid than a potential client be less than impressed.

It’s a fine line, of course, as potential clients can/do read the blog. I still feel that the “mass collaboration” efforts are worth the risk.

Question is: where’s the balance between looking for feedback and looking like a fool?

Enjoy the show and be sure to tune in to Jonny every week. The guy is great!

Nice summary from the guys at BisNow