The Three Second Intro
Analytic marketer, creative writer, out of the box story-teller and idea guy who loves to mix creativity and analysis. Seattle-based manager, contributor, mentor, coach. Clifton would use the labels: Ideation, Arranger, Strategic, Analyzer, Individualization.
> Visit my LinkedIn Profile for more
The 30 Second Overview
Over the last 20 years or so, I’ve worked with dynamic companies, mainly focused on roles in technology, B2B and B2C marketing, sports and entrepreneurship.
Some of my personal career favorite moments include the following:
– Joining RealNetworks when video on the internet didn’t exist. There I discovered the importance, pleasure and challenges of working with some of the smartest people in the world, in an industry still defining itself. Many of those people have invited to me work on amazing projects with them ever since.
– Being a Principal in the 1st social media agency in Seattle, helping grow it from two to 35 people in three years. There the lesson was to find a great customer, execute well, and expand.
– Trying and failing to build a software company. I learned what happens to great ideas without greater execution.
– Teaching MBA classes at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. There I conformed that few things are more satisfying than helping others reach their potential.
– Three years of marketing in Minor League baseball, including wearing mascot costumes for two different teams. That’s where I learned the importance of creativity.
> Visit my LinkedIn Profile for more
The three minute monologue for those who want to know more
I started my career working for minor league baseball teams in Tucson and Iowa, then did PR for Crystal Mountain Resort. I really thought my future was in sports marketing. But fate intervened, and I made the un-natural transition to the world of tech and online marketing. So from 1996-2002 I was part of an inspiring team at RealNetworks, when the whole idea of audio and video on the internet was still kind of a dream. (Yes, there was life before YouTube.)
After that, I spent a number of years in freelance marketing consulting roles for Microsoft and a host of tech startups such as Imagekind, Movaya and GotVoice. I also did a fair amount of philanthropy based marketing, helping professional athletes raise money for their favorite charities. That’s when I decided to go back to school, and received my MBA from the University of Washington.
In 2007, I joined a little two person shop called Spring Creek Group as a Principal. In the next three years, we grew the company to 35 community managers and social media analysts. SCG was sold to IPGMediabrands in 2011.
In the summer of 2010, a few friends and I started a new company in the social media space, Social3i. Our goal was to build a social media services firm that could identify needs and build products that would make life easier for social media marketing managers and agencies at smaller companies. Thus in late 2011, Social3i spun off a new software company called Relaborate. That was a fun ride and I learned how hard it is to run a start-up. If you know a start-up CEO, give them encouragement but also be honest with them. They need to hear the bad things about their idea or company. You aren’t hurting their feelings, you’re saving them two years of their life.
Since then, many my roles have been around developing long-term content strategies for big and small companies. I like to dig into a company and find the story. The most exciting 30 seconds of content you have.
Other activities
One of my most satisfying achievements was being asked to teach Entrepreneurial Marketing in the University of Washington Foster School of Business. Teaching that one class gave me the opportunity to lead several more, including “Social Media for Managers in the Technical Manager MBA Program, “Online Marketing” in the Global Executive MBA Program, and “Social Media 101” to a visiting MBA class from Lucerne University in Switzerland.
Volunteer wise, in addition to being actively involved with the UW MBA Program, I’ve served on the Board of the Northwest Entrepreneur Network from 2008-2013, and the Communications Committee of the Seattle Parks Foundation from 2011-2013. I’ve also coached Little League Baseball and Girls Soccer.
Why a blog?
So why do I have a blog if I don’t talk about the industry I’m in or sell services?
Well, about 20 years ago, I was doing some freelance marketing consulting and decided to Google myself. I was shocked and dismayed when I discovered that I was losing the Google war to another person named Andy Boyer. However, this Andy Boyer lived in a town far away and was in an entirely different industry. It’s safe to say that if I made a pitch to a potential client, and they went to Google me, that potential client would have been terribly confused by the result of his or her search.
Now I’m no SEO whiz, but I know how to use Google well enough to figure out that buying the url AndyBoyer.com was going to be a pretty good start. The problem is, I’m a fairly private guy, and most of the time I’d rather be out playing soccer than writing blog posts. So, what was I going to do to make this blog worth reading?
I like to treat this blog as a way for me to talk about things with people I don’t get to see in person, in the same way I’d talk with you if we were sitting in the old Dad Watson’s. You’ll get a little Marketing talk, but this site isn’t for me to promote a book or social media consulting opportunities. You’re going to see a lot of stuff I care about – sports, business, Seattle, technology, politics and some photos of friends and family. But you’re not going to get “Top 10 ways to use Twitter” or anything like that.
Note: If you read any rants about conspiracy theories and such nonsense, know that I’m just exploring alternate and creative ways to look at an issue. I’m not really wearing the tin-hat when I write them.
But if you need help…
By the way, I am currently taking on new clients, and my experience covers a few categories:
- Content Strategy and Editorial Planning
- Messaging and Positioning.
- Online Revenue Creation
- Lead Generation and Nurturing
- Content Development
- Branding and Positioning
- New Marketing Technologies
- Team Mentoring and Coaching
If we’re not connected via LinkedIn, please send me a message and let me know you’ve read a few pages. I’d love to hear from anyone who lands here. I hope to meet you soon and I’m always up for a quick chat over Zoom.
Thanks.
– Andy
P.S. (The tags and categories are a mess right now. I’m consolidating down to fewer options so it’s taking a while to go through all the posts.)