Jason Kintzler | New Media Cowboy

Intel Inside: A cowboy rides a bull (in front of Intel logo) at the Folsom Pro Rodeo. (Photo courtesy Tom Paniagua/www.examiner.com)

PitchEngine was founded in 2008 and other than a print ad in the PRSA conference program last Fall, we haven’t done any sort of traditional advertising. So far, PitchEngine powers PR for almost almost 19,000 companies – all of which found us the organic way, through search and social sites like Twitter, Facebook and others.

So, as we continue to grow at a rapid pace, it’s important for us to get the word out give everyone the opportunity to see how social PR can reshape their PR efforts. It’s also key to our bottom line. So, like every other brand, we consider all the options.


What makes sense for us and what makes sense for our users? Competitors like PR Web spend millions on advertising, while I tend to see cash spent on development more productive and efficient for our customers (PR Web reports spending about 7% on R&D).

I’m curious to hear from you all. Should we keep doing what we’re doing, or opt for dipping our toe in the sea of traditional ad spends? How is our brand, aimed primarily at businesses, going to get the most bang for our buck in a new media world? I’m certainly a fan of the Intel method of sponsoring a bucking chute at the county rodeo, but then again, I’m partial to the ad scene out West.

Click on the image above to hear my recent interview on Webmaster Radio.

Meeteetse Chocolatier, Tim Kellogg hangs on for his (entrepreneurial) ride. photo: http://timkellogg.com

Last weekend I was playing around with the Google Maps feature on my Verizon Droid phone while driving back home to Wyoming from Montana when I noticed a landmark called, “Meeteetse Chocolatier.” Of course I figured it would be a great opportunity to “score some points” with the wife, so we stopped in the quaint western town of Meeteetse, Wyoming to check it out.

Once inside the rustic store, my wife darted off to the chocolate counter, while I took a read through the framed newspaper articles that adorned the wall in the chocolate shop. “Cowboy Caters to Sweet Tooth” and other headlines lined the wooden-plank walls inside the Meeteetse Chocolatier.

Tim Kellogg, entrepreneur and cowboy

A few years back, saddle bronc rider and rancher, Tim Kellogg, was trying to save up a few dollars for a new saddle. His mom recommended he whip up some of his signature truffles and take them to the fair in Cody to sell. The truffles were a hit and Kellog discovered opportunity outside of the rodeo arena.

We saw several patrons drop in a purchase chocolates in just a few minutes – most of them women. I thought (to myself), this guy really has it figured out. Who knew?

I often write about the entrepreneurial spirit here in Wyoming and I think it’s certainly noteworthy. The cowboy way is about more than ropes and reins, it’s about finding your passion and working your ass off to get it right, no matter what.

Let this be a lesson: Cowboys aren’t just legend, they’re the entrepreneur in each of us.

I did an interview with Esther Steinfeld from the The BusinessMakers Overtime Show this past week. It’s not often I get to reflect on the entrepreneur aspects of what we’re doing with PitchEngine, but it’s sure good to step back and see the forest through the trees once and awhile. Enjoy the interview!

Meeting Gary Vaynerchuk at IMS09 in Boston. photo: Derek Wilmot. www.derekwilmot.com.

Last week, I traveled to Boston to speak on the PR 2.0 panel at Chris Brogan’s InBound Marketing Summit IMS09. It was a very impressive event put on by Brogan, Justin Levy and their great team. By the nature of the name, “InBound Marketing Summit,” I expected the attendees to be largely made up of SEO and marketing types, but was surprised by the amount of public relations professionals there. All in all, it was a social media savvy crowd that was extremely engaged.

For me, the event kicked off at the Awareness Party (#GVAWARE) where I was fortunate to meet many friends in person for the first time. From Jason Falls and Deirdre Breakenridge to our own Brian Solis, IMS was full of PR thought-leaders who are all eager to take this ball forward.

Brian Solis and Jason Kintzler at the PitchEngine Tweetup #IMS09. photo: Derek Wilmot. www.derekwilmot.com.

While I love being here in Wyoming, getting out of the office and out from behind the laptop is critical. Business is still about relationships, and those are always better cultivated in person. Perhaps more importantly, I received an enormous amount of support and validation from some of the smartest people in new media. Reading supportive tweets from pitchengine users is one thing, but hearing it from our industry’s best minds is icing on the cake.

For those of you who took the time to chat,  I want to say thanks. It’s reassuring to see how enthusiastic people are about where this social media train is headed. See you at BlogWorld!

Brooks Lake above Dubois, Wyoming

“It’s beautiful there, but I can make twice that in ________ (enter major metropolitan city of choice).”

We hear statements like this all the time in Wyoming, where recruiting out of state employees (especially in technology) is a difficult task.

It’s not that people don’t see the beauty, it’s that they think they are worth more.  In most cases, their current corporate  salary has them making enough money to “get by” where they’re at, and the thought of a potential “decrease” has them running for home. It’s become my job to help them see what it’s all about. And to get a true feeling for the life-altering power of life “away from it all.”

This weekend, I was fortunate to give the lay-of-the-land to a potential hire who understands what Wyoming has to offer and seems willing to make the change. We took a drive just about an hour from my house to the towering Pinnacles above Brooks Lake near Dubois, Wyoming. We got out, stretched and snapped a few pics with our cell phone cameras (which he promptly posted to Facebook).  It was completely silent, except for the natural sounds of a brisk breeze and the forest that surrounded us. There were no people [I repeat], there were no people in site as far as we could see. Talk about a head-clearing, thought-provoking place, this was it. And there are plenty of these at the end of every road in Wyoming.

As Pitchengine grows, and we begin to build our team, it’s critical to me that we do it selectively. How do we compete for talented people with the likes of New York City or San Francisco? To me, it’s easy. Most of the work has already been done for us. After all, in Wyoming the artwork isn’t on the wall, but on the horizon.

Every time the Wyoming Cowboys play at home in Laramie, Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium becomes the 3rd largest city in Wyoming. Needless to say, when the #2 ranked Texas Longhorns came to town Saturday, it was one for the ages. Did we think Wyoming would have a shot? Quite honestly, probably not. That is, until we opened up a 10-6 lead late in the first half on an amazing blocked punt returned for a touchdown. It’s that same gritty determination that gave Wyoming big wins over larger programs like Tennessee , Virginia and UCLA in years past.

Cooper is happy with the Cowboys' first half performance versus Texas Saturday in Laramie.

Unfortunately, the 2nd half didn’t go well for the Pokes, but it was great to watch the Heisman Trophy hopeful Colt McCoy and his Longhorns do what they do. It was great for fans and good for the University and the state.

We’re a small state in terms of population, but we’re big on work ethic and self reliance. It’s part of the reason I want to raise a family here, and one of the reasons I believe I can build a web startup in one of the least likely places in the nation to do so. Sitting at the game Saturday with my father, my wife and my son, I realized how fortunate I am to be here doing what I am, where I am.

With the tremendous support we’ve received from the blogosphere, the PR industry and eager journalists, I’m certain Pitchengine has a winning game plan for the future. With plenty of plays in our playbook, the next three months are going to be fun.

Thank you, and go Pokes!

My first job as a news anchor was at the CBS affiliate (KXLF-TV) in the historic city of Butte, Montana.

Known to locals as “Butte, America”, Butte holds a special place in my heart. At one time, Butte was the largest city in the northwest – bigger than Seattle. The Butte Copper Mine brought loads of people from around the globe creating a melting pot of cultures. Beautiful buildings were constructed with copper inlays and no expenses spared as the city boomed. But that boom turned bust when the mine eventually shut down. It made for hard times and hard living for many people. That “live hard” mentality was passed on through generations of Butte families.

As an outsider, I can’t completely relate, but I can say I’ve had the honor of meeting some incredible people from Butte, MT. One of those legends was Evel Knievel, a Butte native and American classic. This past weekend, Butte celebrated his legacy at Evel Knievel Days, an event created just before Evel died.

Believe it or not, this city, now comprised of just over 30,000 people, is home to many interesting athletes and other characters. From UFC fighter Keith Jardine to cyclist Levi Leipheimer (Tour De France and Lance Armstrong teammate). I’ve heard people talk about certain places having soul. Of all the places I’ve traveled across this country, Butte is definitely one with soul.

Not to mention, they have one hell of a St. Patty’s Day!

A nice Brown trout who took a fat woolybugger (and a nice pic) before being released back in the Wind River, WY.

I spent this past Saturday over the mountain in Jackson, WY. My wife and I like to make the trip over Togwatee Pass to get out of town, see some Mosse and other wildlife and eat some sushi at Nikai near the town square.

Jackson is an interesting story here in Wyoming. If you’ve never been here, you’re certainly missing one of those “must see” American destinations. Jackson is in Teton County, the country’s wealthiest county per capita - yes, higher than New York!

Well known for the towering Tetons (the most photographed mountains in the world), Jackson has a storied past, from the wild-and-wooly outlaw days to the birth of America’s first national park, Yellowstone, Jackson is indeed pretty special.

I share this not as a Jackson flag-waver, but as a Wyoming resident. Throughout my travels people always asked “why?” or most often, “how?” I could possibly do what I do from such a “remote” place. For me, it’s always been about quality of life.

I’ve grown up watching many of my friends leaving the state in numbers for the appeal of a higher salary in a larger city, but the ironic thing is, many of them are replacing people who have chosen to trade the “city life” for a piece of the true west lifestyle. As a New York City publisher friend of mine says, “We go to the city to mine our money, then we come home.”

So, as a young entrepreneur it made a lot of sense to me when the first “big city offers” came calling. Why not skip the step where I pack-up and move and try to make it happen here, where my heart is? We all have ties to various parts of this great country (and others) which help shape who we are.

Don’t let the promise of money dictate your decisions. The money is relative. Just because the salary isn’t what you’re used to seeing doesn’t mean it isn’t adequate for a place (like Wyoming) with a lower cost of living. For most of us out here, our lifestyle, more than money, dictates our decisions.

As Wyoming legend Chris Ledoux sang it, “I’ve gotta live my life, write my songs beneath these western skies.”

Why do you live where you do? Is it because of money or because you love it? Would you trade-in your comfortable salary for a lifestyle you don’t currently lead? I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

I often say, there are no experts in social media. However, I do believe there are thought leaders and best practices we can learn from. We’ve all seen tweets-gone-bad, Facebook blunders and other “uh-ohs” and “fails” we wish we could take back. So, today, I’m admitting my first big social media mistake. A mistake dating back to the beginning of my social networking presence, and one a plan to fix.

Where I made my mistake.

As I contemplated a strategy on how to launch my brand, PitchEngine , it seemed at the time choosing the “@pitchengine” would be the best Twitter handle to get the word out. I would blog and tweet as my brand, throwing in some personality and “gift for gab” along the way.  I assumed people would prefer to put a face with the PitchEngine name, but I never really considered the impeding limitations. But at the time, there were really no “best practices” for this process aside from, “be sure to upload a picture.”

Why it was a mistake (for me).

In retrospect, branding myself the same as a web app was a bad move.  It definitely helped “localize” the customer/user relationship by enabling users to tweet me directly, but it also limited my engagement on Twitter, FriendFeed and even Facebook.  Personal opinion should not cloud the anonymity of a company. While we’re all representatives of certain brands, we need to maintain that personal/professional distance for the good of both the corporate brand, and our own.  I can’t say that there was any one instance that was the catalyst for this idea, but it certainly is part of the thought process.

How I am re-branding myself.

At the advice of several people (much smarter than me), I decided to change my Twitter username to my name @jasonkintzler.  Then, I created a new account for @pitchengine where I will continue to tweet all company, industry and social media related content. The theory here is that the majority of people following me from the start are following me, personally. Those people who are following for pitchengine news, updates and customer support will continue to do so, having the option to follow the founder if they so choose.

The opportunity.

In re-branding myself I’m already seeing the horizon of opportunities widen. I’ve created this blog (New Media Cowboy)  as an “insider view” for all the great people who are so engaged with PitchEngine as a startup, not just a web app they use for their business or clients. There are so many people I’ve met throughout my travels these past few months who are following what I’m doing with PitchEngine for so many reasons. Some want to watch us grow and experience the highs and lows, while some just want to hear tales of Wyoming and living the cowboy lifestyle from one of the least likely places to find a web startup in the nation.

This has been a great lesson for me on so many levels. It’s helped me to “see the forest through the trees” and given me new perspective on genuine engagement with influencers (friends, fans and followers). Time will tell how effective the switch will be, but I’m all about learning. After all, aren’t we all learning here?