That’s right, _____ (substitute Chappelle’s favorite word there…)
I’ve been itching to get back to the for-profit/net world for a few months… have had an unbelievably fulfilling 14 months at Unitus and I think I’ve made a positive impact on the organization, as is has on me. I’m a big believer in the Unitus approach to fighting poverty — by acting like a venture capital firm, to find the highest potential ‘banks for the poor’ and then investing in them to rapidly expand their outreach. I invite you to watch the Unitus 14-minute video and then get involved!
But, I was also ready to get back to a world where:
– you have a measuring stick in dollars/revenue (in the nonprofit world, metrics are scarce, and people can both take advantage of your services and then not recognize them; in the for-profit world, this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that they need to purchase your services and by doing so, they are recognizing value)
– technology/new media was the primary driver — in the end, I’m a bit of a geek — I get turned on by new technology and the latest toys. I was able to leverage that at Unitus to greatly increase our Internet traffic (from help from Tim Stay and Dave McClure) and in turn help to significantly increase our donations.
– my work was driving the main organization benefit — in the nonprofit world, I was working to drive funds for the organization and raise our awareness; but, our primary impact was on the ground in India, Mexixo, Argentina and Kenya. I just didn’t feel connected enough to the end customer
So, when my friend Gregg called and told me that his company, JibJab, just got funded and needed help with their marketing (online traffic generation and offline brand transition), I jumped at the chance! Many of you are familiar with their big hit political video, This Land — all I can tell you is that they’ve not only done a ton of other hilarious and creative work, but also have some huge ideas for a new brand called JokeBox — I’ll be helping them to launch that brand and transition JibJab to be something even bigger — I couldn’t be more excited about it!
What does this mean? I’ll be:
1) I’ll be setting up shop as a contractor / consultant (yeah… if you need help with online marketing and/or project work, please let me know)
2) commuting to Santa Monica, CA where they work (you can see a quick video that shows the work environment and gives you a little more background on Gregg and Evan)
3) racing to learn a ton about the online media/comedy space (hence my recent reviews of sites on this blog!)
4) wrapping up work at Unitus
Onward!