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.

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!

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.