The Blog of Brandon Milford - Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Design

It’s been a busy week! I’ve been in New York for Ad:tech since Sunday and Tuesday we launched the iContact Community. We had a great time at Ad:tech and met many of our current customers, partners, and many people who are excited about iContact. Thanks to all of you who stopped by our booth!

Tuesday morning we launched the iContact Community which allows our users (aka publishers) to publish their content into an online community where visitors can read, rank, and comment on this content. Visitors can also read archived content from our publishers and subscribe to their newsletter(s). This is huge for our publishers as we are helping them reach a wider audience, grow their lists, and making their content more interactive. Instead of only reaching someone’s inbox it can now live in the community as well, where conversations can be started around this content, visitors can rank it, and our publishers can participate in these conversations while building stronger relationships with their subscribers. Here’s more info about the iContact Community.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so I thought I’d share a few things that have been going on…iContact is continuing to grow like crazy. We’ve been experimenting with additional ways of marketing the application –primarily through radio and print.

Most of our marketing efforts have been online. We continue to scale our investments in cost-per-click advertising and have successfully added more and more customers each month. We began working with ROI Revolution a few months ago to help us manage our CPC campaigns and they have been a huge help for us. We’ve continued to make efforts to increase conversions through our CPC campaigns. The biggest thing that we’ve done is added landing pages. I’m confident that we’ll learn a lot from the success of the landing pages that we can then apply to our website.

Back in August we were out in San Jose again for the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo. We met a lot of our current clients out there and also talked to many who were interested in iContact. In September we sponsored Marketing Mania Bootcamp in Orlando, which was hosted by PostcardMania. There were a number of small business owners there and many who were new to email marketing and blogging. This week we’re a sponsor at CED’s Tech 2007 right here in Chapel Hill. The next trade show is Ad:tech New York November 5th-8th. I’ve been working on the schedule for next year and adding more and more shows. I think it may be time to add a trade show coordinator to the team, but we’ll see how it goes.

On Saturday September 22nd we had our 4th iContact Day, which is a day where all employees gather and brainstorm about how we can improve our company and product. It’s been interesting to see how things have changed as the company has grown. One of the biggest challenges has been cross-departmental communication and ensuring that everyone has the information they need and can get it in a timely manner. I wouldn’t consider it a huge issue, just something that has been challenging as we’ve grown, and continue to grow, so quickly.

If you’re attending Ad:tech New York in November, be sure to drop by our booth!

iContact is a four-year old venture-backed 60 person company based in Durham, NC, that provides on-demand software that makes online communication easy. The iContact product is the leading email marketing and online communications platform used by over 12,000 companies worldwide ranging from small businesses to blue chip clients like International Paper, Ford, Bank of America, Super 8 Motel, Symantec, Re/Max, United Colors of Benetton, Nissan, and LG Electronics.

The company is seeking an experienced Graphic Designer who has expert skills with tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. The ideal candidate will have experience in creating mock-ups and storyboards, a history of designing user interfaces for web applications with multiple features and a constantly-evolving feature set, experience designing with grids, excellent verbal and written communication skills, and a bachelor’s degree or five years of related experience. In addition, they must possess a design portfolio demonstrating related and relevant work, including links to at least 2 designs that are live, with a description of what role you played in the development and design of the web application and/or web site.

Additional desired skills and experience: advanced HTML & CSS skills, with an extremely solid understanding of semantically valid markup; formal education in Graphic Design with a thorough understanding of color, layout, composition, typography, and iconography; experience with print design; a passion for web standards; proven skill at creating both vector-based and pixel-based user interface elements (controls, dialogs, icons, text, etc.); excellent prioritization and analytical skills; self-starter/highly motivated; passion for designing interfaces that are simple, usable, accessible, intuitive, consistent and beautiful; experience creating, maintaining and following GUI standards and design standards; technical writing skills; familiarity with Smarty; JavaScript and AJAX experience.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include but not limited to:
•Updating our product and corporate websites
•Working with UI Engineer to ensure the user-interface has a consistent look-and-feel
•Helping our front-end engineers create interfaces that are easy to use and communicate the purpose and functionality of new features
•Playing a pivotal role in creating an enterprise-scale email software product

Salary/Benefits

Salary, commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits are provided including health care coverage, a 401(k) plan, a Flexible Spending Account, free sodas, foosball, ping pong, company activities, an entrepreneurial and creative environment, and being part of a rockstar team that acts like a family.

For More Information

If you are interested and/or would like more information, please send resume with cover letter to jobs@icontact.com. If we determine you to be a qualified candidate we may send a questionnaire or contact you to schedule either an in-person interview or teleconference interview. Additional information on the company and software can be found at www.icontact.com.

Hi Everyone, we’re searching for a Community Manager!

The Community Manager will help build and manage our online community of publishers and visitors. You will be the face of the community and have the responsibility of growing the number of participants, fostering communication among members of the community, establishing policies and procedures, and work closely with our product team to implement needed tools to manage the community as it grows.

The ideal candidate will have the following skills:

• Self-starter/ambitious
• Great writing skills
• Great communicator
• Basic understanding of web marketing
• Have an interest and understanding of web analytics
• Must have the ability to handle heavy loads of inbound/outbound correspondence
• Ability to present ideas in a clear and well organized manner

Responsibilities

• Growing the user base for the community
• Fostering communication within the community
• Communicate with members on a daily basis
• Maintain a “community manager” blog
• Establishing policies and procedures
• Work with the product team by planning and implementing needed tools to manage the community as it grows

About iContact

iContact is a 65 person company based in Durham, NC near RTP, that provides on-demand software that makes online communication easy. The company’s product iContact is an email marketing, blogging, and online communications platform used by over 12,000 companies worldwide.

For More Information
If you are interested and/or would like more information, please send resume with cover letter to jobs@icontact.com. If we determine you to be a qualified candidate we may send a questionnaire or contact you to schedule either an in-person interview or teleconference interview. Additional information on the company and software can be found at www.iContact.com.

Recently I received an email from someone asking about our re-branding and the planning and steps that went into the process. I thought I’d share my response here as well.

“Hi, thanks for the email. As part of the process I’d definitely bring in an expert for advice. Our process began at the executive level where we discussed everything from acquiring the domain, potential trademark issues, and customer impact. In making the decision to transition our brand from IntelliContact to iContact we had to think about our current customers (about 8,500 at the beginning of the process and over 11,000 now) but also consider the impact on those who’ve never heard of us (ie: future customers). At the beginning of this process we laid out the risks involved and conclusions our customers may come to because of the fact that we’re changing our name. For example; some companies change their name because they are struggling, have merged with another company, or under new management. We went into this with clear communication to our customers that the same great team is behind the application and we let them know that we’re continuing to be innovative and adding more features to our software that would help them market their business. You have to go into the process with confidence, letting your customers know that ‘this is what you’re doing and why you’re doing it’. If during the process there’s any uncertainty from management, customers can lose confidence and question your motives. Also, I’m not sure how large of a company you have, but we have about 50 employees currently and it is of equal importance to “market” the transition internally as well. We took a representative from each department (could not be a manager or exec) and assembled a team of Brand Champions. This group met and got the scoop on what was going on during the transition and could communicate this to the rest of their team. This helped to build a level of excitement around the transition and towards the future of the brand and company. We also put together Employee Packs that consisted of a branded backpack filled with items such as branded pen, lapel pin, travel mug, iContact collateral, t-shirt, and polo. We included a note to each employee thanking them for their hard work and for being a part of the family. They were very excited about this and we surprised them with the packs the day before the launch. That helped us hit the ground running and morale was high.

In this process there was also a lot of hard work we had to do in Marketing and in Development. Myself and the CTO worked very closely, checking in on a weekly basis, laying out a time line and breaking down who was working on what. It took about six months in all to make this happen and a lot of planning prior to starting the process. In re-branding definitely speak with a professional to ensure all important questions have been answered and think about the impact on your employees, current customers, and your future customers.”

I’m excited to announce that we secured an additional round of funding this morning.

Here’s the release in its entirety:

iContact Secures $5.35 Million in Funding

Online communications software company will fuel already phenomenal growth and expand reach of world-class web-based communications platform

Durham, NC – June 29, 2007 – iContact, provider of the leading email marketing and blogging application, today announced it has secured $5.35 million in funding to increase its marketing and customer acquisition efforts. The funding round was led by Updata Partners with participation from North Carolina-based venture firm IDEA Fund Partners. The company recently changed the name of its service to iContact and its corporate name to iContact Corporation.

iContact will use the new funds to expand marketing initiatives, increase customer acquisition, and support product development efforts. The company currently employs 58 people in the Raleigh-Durham area and expects that number to grow to over 100 in the next 18 months.

iContact is the first application in the world to allow businesses to manage all their online communications in one central web application. iContact allows its 11,500 customers and over 90,000 users to easily create email newsletters, blogs, RSS feeds, surveys, and autoresponders.

Commensurate with the funding, Carter H. Griffin of Updata Partners, has joined the iContact Board of Directors.

“iContact is an established leader and innovator in areas where we see tremendous growth and opportunity, serving small-to-medium sized businesses with sophisticated, integrated online marketing solutions in an on-demand delivery platform,” said Griffin. “We look forward to working with the dynamic team at iContact to rapidly scale the company.”

“This funding will allow iContact to move to the next level,” said Ryan Allis, CEO and Co-founder of iContact. “Our rockstar team has built an amazing company over the past four years. We have worked hard to bring the best email marketing, blogging, and RSS feed web application in the world to our customers. It is our mission to be the leading worldwide provider of on-demand software that makes online communication easy. With this capital infusion, we can move even more quickly.”

Aaron Houghton, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of iContact added: “Our philosophy is to invest in innovative product development ahead of the market to ensure that iContact leads the world of online communication. With partners like Updata and IDEA Fund Partners, we will be able to solidify iContact’s standing as the world’s leading all-in-one online communications platform.”

There will be a celebration of the new funding at the iContact offices in Durham, NC. on July 20, 2007 from 5-7 p.m. RSVP here

About Updata Partners

Based in Reston, Virginia and Edison, New Jersey, Updata Partners is a leading venture capital firm that invests in growth stage information technology companies with innovative intellectual property enabling market-leading products and services. Led by an investment team averaging more than 20 years of operational and private equity experience in the technology industry, we seek investments where the combination of our financial backing and operating expertise will accelerate growth. With over $400 million under management, the firm also selectively provides recapitalization and management buyout financing. For more information, please visit www.updatapartners.com.

About iContact

With more than 11,500 customers, iContact is the first on-demand application in the world to allow businesses to manage all their online communications in one central platform. iContact allows for easy creation of email newsletters, blogs, RSS feeds, surveys, and autoresponders. Market leaders like Bank of America, Ford, Intuit, Vonage, Symantec, International Paper, LG Electronics, ReMax, United Colors of Benetton, and Centex Homes, use iContact to build stronger relationships with their customers and prospects at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods. iContact, designed for the SMB market and iContact Enterprise, designed for mid-sized to large organizations, are both available at www.icontact.com.

For media inquiries, including free software reviews, contact Chuck Hester, APR, Director of Corporate Communications, chuck@icontact.com or (919) 459-1451.

This morning we officially launched the brand transition from IntelliContact to iContact - whew! With iContact you can now create, publish and track email newsletters, blogs, RSS feeds, surveys and autoresponders.

Here’s a photo taken this morning during the launch that includes a few members of the development team: