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Big Announcement – I’m Headed to Kaldi’s Coffee

I am elated to announce that I have joined Kaldi’s Coffee as their new Marketing Director. This is a newly created position that will have me creating and implementing marketing strategies, monitoring and posting on social media, and finding ways to sell more coffee (especially online). I’m thrilled to join the organization, while having mixed feelings about leaving Falk Harrison (see the end of the post for an explanation on that).

I’ve previously shared information regarding my move from the accounting world to the marketing world, and people seemed interested in the details. So I thought I’d share some information this time, as well. Why did I make this move? Here are three reasons:

1. I want to get my hands dirty with the work. My responsibilities will have me plotting and implementing strategy almost 100% of the time. I’m a student of new media and still have much to learn (and always will). If I come up with an interesting idea I want to try, I won’t have to find a company willing to let me implement it. As long as it’s not too crazy, Kaldi’s will let me try it. This means I won’t be spending time convincing companies that doing social media and new media is a good idea.

2. The people – I’ve known folks from Kaldi’s for several years and have made many friends. I predict we’re going to get along quite well. In talking with Josh Ferguson, he stressed the importance of family – the family we work with, and the family we have at home. With a wife and two young daughters, I want to be able to be there for them. I want to make it to the recitals, pick them up from school every once in awhile. Kaldi’s made it clear that I’d be able to do so, in exchange for getting the work done.

3. The subject matter – I love coffee. I’m a 365-days-a-year coffee drinker. I’m a hot mess without coffee. It’s terrible, but it’s so awesome because coffee in the morning is a pleasure. It’s going to be easy to wake up every day and be excited about my work, and I should be able to find the inspiration to tell the Kaldis’ story. During my agency life, when a client would express concern to me that no one would care about what they were saying on social media due to their staid or boring product, I’d say, “Look, we’re not selling tombstones here.” That jarring example usually got them back in the right mindset. Well, same thing here – I won’t have to gin myself up to talk about or search for a story angle on coffee. I’m a big fan of coffee – I think this is going to make a difference.

So those are some of my reasons for joining Kaldi’s. I can say that none of this speaks negatively towards Falk Harrison. In fact, we’ve decided that I may still be able to help out. So we came to an arrangement where I’ll be able to help Falk Harrison clients with some social media consulting. I had mixed emotions about leaving our great clients, and now I’ll get a chance to continue to help out here and there. Jon Falk was easy to work with as we constructed this arrangement, and I look forward to helping out.

At Kaldi’s, we announced my hiring on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, and a huge outpouring of support had me sitting at the computer all day. So many tweets and Facebook posts and messages and … I just want all of you to know that I appreciate your support and encouragement. And yes, self-motivation is a great thing to have, but so are friends like Micah:

It’s time to get to work!

Full disclosure: if you’re thirsty for coffee, go here immediately! Operators are standing by, so to speak. ($2.95 flat rate shipping up to $50, free shipping after that).

The @FalkHarrison Smoker is Smoking Chicken

Jon Falk did a number on these chicken wings. He brought his smoker from home to get the job done.

What’s Going On With Rizzo Tees? An Update

I started Rizzo Tees back in 2007 with the entrepreneurial dream of growing it out of control. I wanted to build a big, strong, healthy business, and of course I wanted to leave my CPA/Accounting life behind. While Rizzo Tees remains small today, I was able to escape the accounting world over two years ago. I’ve mentioned this several times (here and here), but I can say it once more: you have no idea what this career change has truly meant to me.

What of Rizzo Tees now? I’ve had a few people tell me they’ve noticed a change in my content output over the last year. They say I’ve moved away from t-shirt promotion and more towards discussion of new media strategy. I believe they are right. I’d say my job at Falk Harrison has a great deal to do with that. Finally, a job that I can enjoy!

Rizzo Tees remains in business, tees are still in stock and people are still buying them (especially the bacon ones). But my interests have changed in important ways. Listen to the podcast below to hear more about the direction I’m headed.

Click here for the 5-minute podcast.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

RFT 2012 Point+Clique Web Awards Finalists

The Riverfront Times has released their 2012 Point+Clique Web Awards finalists. I am humbled to have been nominated in the category of “Best Use of Twitter to Promote a Personal Brand.”

I am also chuffed that our Save Pratzel’s campaign was nominated for “Best Use of Social Media for a Civic Campaign.” Falk Harrison won a BMA-TAM award for this work, and we’d be thrilled to be honored again.

Congratulations to all the finalists. We are up against some stiff competition. I am hoping and praying that the winners receive supercool circuit board sculptures like last year!

RFT 2011 Point + Clique Web Awards

Two Anniversaries of Note

Several things of note:

1. Sorry for all the background noise. It was loud in City Coffee, and since I was a little self-conscious about doing a video, I didn’t speak loud enough.

2. Sorry for the up close shot. I suppose my forehead IS that big.

I am celebrating two anniversaries today – one traditional, and one less so. I started at Falk Harrison one year ago today. Thank you for keeping me on board for an entire year! I am so happy to be here and hope to get even more done in year two.

And thank you to David Siteman Garland, otherwise known as The Rise To The Top. Two years ago today, I met David for coffee, and he said something to me that changed the direction of my career. We were talking about social media, thought leadership, his career, etc., and I expressed a hesitance to offer my advice and expertise on the subject of social media. I was still a CPA at the time, living in secret at my old CFO job. I told him that I didn’t feel qualified to offer advice, because I had not accomplished anything yet – had not “hit the big time” or whatever. Because of that, I wondered why anyone would listen to me. David said, “Chris, who cares? You know your business, you know about social, so there’s no time like the present. Start sharing now. People will want to hear from you.”

From that moment on, I thought of myself in a different way. He convinced me that there was no perfect point in the future, with “X” amount of success achieved, to begin blogging and giving speeches and offering advice. Since then I’ve done almost 200 blog posts and have not looked back.

David, thank you for the advice. And Falk Harrison, thank you for the job.

P.S. The video below was shot exactly one year ago. I looked a bit different back then!

New Falk Harrison Blog Post: The 5 Unforgettables of Our New Social World

Just a quick note here to direct you over to my employer’s blog… I’ve written a post there called “The 5 Unforgettables of Our New Social World.”

The reason for the post: I am constantly asked about my social media following: how it got so big, how I keep up with it, how I come up with things to post about, etc. These are what I call the “what” and “how” questions, and they often lead me to believe that the questioner has not considered the “why” question first. Why do we do what we do, and how can I get you to care? That is a fundamental question that every company must answer.

So instead of instructing you on how often to post, what tools to use, where to post or what to post about (the “what” and “how” questions), I took a step back and considered some key principles to live by. These core principles are what I’m now calling “The 5 Unforgettables.” I believe that understanding these principles and taking them to heart will equip you to answer some of those “what” and “how” questions for yourself.

Let me know what you think.

Chase Ink Commercial I Did for Falk Harrison at the 2011 Inc 500 Conference

New Falk Harrison Video – Companies Transitioning Money and Effort To Social Media

My employer Falk Harrison and I made this video that discusses the challenges companies face in transitioning time and effort to social media. Matt Bell did a very nice job with the cinematography. It’s amazing what a video starts to look like when you put the Flip Cam down.

Steve Hartman Is The Devil

This proves it! Oh yeah, follow @creativille on Twitter

Steve hartman is Devil