by Jennifer Laycock
Two weeks ago, I came home from Small Business Marketing Unleashed to find a note on my laptop. It said “Hey Jen! We need more content! The masses are circling and you’re not giving them enough to read!!” Now as someone who used to regularly churn out 6000 words of content a day, I found I could do nothing more than hang my head in shame. After all, what good is Search Engine Guide if we aren’t feeding our readers a steady diet of small business marketing articles to keep them happy?
Of course I’m only one woman. Granted, I type 120 words per minute and I spin out marketing ideas like Simon Cowell spins out insults, but nonetheless, I’m still only human. So, I fired a note right back at Robert that said “Well fine! Then drag yourself out of that recliner and put down your bon bons long enough to hire me an Associate Editor!”
Soon enough, a note shot back. “Fine by me, but who are you going to sucker into this job?”
The Requirements
Well, that was a tough one. I mean the criteria were pretty high.
1.) They should be cute. (but not cuter than me, and certainly not cuter than Puppy.)
2.) They need to be able to write. (preferably about things I don’t like to write about so I can push the dirty work on someone else.)
3.) They have to be able to hold their own as part of our team. (Which means having a snappy come-back at all points in time while retaining an incredibly charming demeanor.)
4.) They have to love small business as much as I do. (In fact, they should probably run one.)
Now number one was going to be tough to fill, so I made a note that we could compromise here if we had to. Number two was non-negotiable, especially on the “things I don’t like to write about” front. What good would it do the world to have a carbon copy of me, we want tons of content coming in on completely different topics, right? Number three was going to be tough. Search Engine Guide runs on a spicy mix of rock-hard friendship and lightening fast zingers.
Of course number four wasn’t in any way, shape or form negotiable.
That’s when Robert pointed out the need for:
5.) They have to be willing to work with YOU, Jen.
Doh. Suddenly my hopes of a brand spanking new content sidekick were dashed.
But All Was Not Lost
That’s when I heard the voice of Yoda, calling out from beyond… saying “wait, there is another.”
(Ok, ok, so actually, my brain said “you dolt, there’s only ONE man for the job and you know exactly who it is.)
Honesty folks, the choice was obvious. The only thing not obvious was why I didn’t think of it sooner. So without further ado, let me introduce to you the one man in this industry that fit every last qualification we could outline. The only man in this industry I’d trust with a label like this one. (And don’t any of you tell him that because it will go straight to his head.)
No one else we could think of could possibly fill the void on our site the way Stoney can. So, as much as the other editors of the world may cry to know that Stoney’s content will now be appearing exclusively on this site as he helps me crank up the content, our small business readers can delight in knowing they no longer have to chase Stoney around the web. If you love him as much as we do, you’ll find him right here, on a regular basis, sharing his infinite knowledge of organic search, usability, and obscure movie quotes.
No worries to those of you who were just picking up the phone to call him, he’ll still be at the helm of his firm, Pole Position Marketing as well. He’ll simply be moonlighting as part of our fun-loving staff.
Welcome aboard Stoney!
No, Stoney, your title can NOT be “Pimp McFly.” Robert already laid claim to that one.
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