(Lisa Martin, Elizabeth Edwards, Steve Sanders)

You can find out more about the IZEA Insiders here.  Better yet, if you’re planning on coming to IZEAFest in October you can meet them face-to-face!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Everyone knows how much we love our bloggers here at IZEA, and Tuesday that sentiment was validated yet again!

When the mail came Tuesday afternoon our Office Manager handed me a package (just so you know, I never get mail here at work) and needless to say, I was pumped! I opened up the package and it was full of awesome treats from one of our IZEA Insiders, Laurie!


Here’s a little back-story as to why she sent us this great surprise (stay with me here):

A few months ago we ran a blog marketing Opportunity with a few of our Insiders – the bloggers were a given a check from the Advertiser and were asked to put on an event to help raise money and awareness for a cause close to their heart. Drew, Corrin, Steven and Laurie all accepted this task wholeheartedly and, to be honest with you, it was awesome to see what they did.

We saw 2 bloggers raise money for Breast Cancer walk teams, one raise for the Northwest Indiana Humane Society and one for the Hope Unlimited Pregnancy Crisis Center (a group that helps expecting mothers facing tough decisions). We saw the bloggers put on Tweet-Ups, dinners, raffles, comedy events, (awesome) give-aways and they also took generous donations in the name of their charity. It was incredible how 4 people, pursuing 4 very different ventures, could make such an impact – it was very inspirational to say the least.

In addition to the events the bloggers put on, we ran a side contest and the blogger that generated the most buzz around their event would win an additional donation to their charity, as well as win a prize for themselves. The race was a tight one and went down to the wire, but Laurie was the one that came out victorious in the end by the slimmest of margins. We were able to donate additional funds to her team that is participating in the 2009 Race for the Cure that benefits Susan G. Komen this month.

As a thank-you Laurie sent us a bunch of goodies from her event – they include pencils, stickers, mints, pins, a keychain, a scarf (which I have already put on and modeled for everyone on this side of the office) all Breast Cancer awareness themed. Ashley has already claimed some of the stickers because he loves the slogan – “Save the Ta-Tas”.

This campaign was an awesome one to be a part of and I have to thank all the bloggers involved for their hard work, kinda hearts and overall awesomeness in everything they did. Special shout-out to Laurie for sending us souvenirs! To everyone at IZEA, if you’re nice to me, maybe I’ll share with you!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

You might recall a post a few months back highlighting one of our Posties featured in the local media. Since then we’ve had a handful of other Posties who have taken advantage of press opportunities in their markets, and I thought I’d share some of them.

Katy in Las Vegas
The most recent Postie in the press was just yesterday, courtesy of Katy Castro (aka, “Katy in Las Vegas”). Now Katy has been a member of the IZEA Community nearly since its inception, and she’s currently one of the Moderators on the IZEA Message Boards.

You can read about additional Posties and IZEA Insiders in the Media here.

IZEA Insider Lisa Martin
Lisa has been part of our Community since nearly the beginning three years ago, and lives in the Chicago area. She was recently interviewed by the Southtown Star.

IZEA Insider Brett Bumeter
Brett is an active member of the IZEA Community, not only as a Blogger but also as an Advertiser. He was recently presented the opportunity to speak with his hometown newspaper about working from home by earning money blogging. You can read the entire article here.

IZEA Insider Heather Smith
Heather is one of our Canadian Posties, and she recently had the opportunity to be interviewed with one of her local radio stations, Talk 1410 AM in Vancouver, BC. We’re working on getting a copy of the interview but here’s what Heather had to say about her experience:

“The talent asked great questions, like how I found out about IZEA, what advertisers I’ve written for, what the Opps pay, if bloggers have to be only positive in their reviews, what I blog about, how many people read my blog…etc. We talked about Twitter and how it compliments blogging.

The guy tried to lead me toward saying I had to write only positively about advertisers since they were paying me – they’d have loved that bit of controversy – but I said “No, I give my honest opinion – and if I don’t like a product or service I don’t write about it”. I mentioned awesome advertisers like Sears, KMart, Rhoomba…. I also mentioned being an IZEA Insider, attending conventions….

I received a Tweet from a local person who heard me and said she was going to check out my blog!”

IZEA Insider Drew Bennett
Drew is unarguably one of our most active Posties, and now that I think about it he’s the only one who will have attended all of our social media conferences since they started in 2007. Drew recently began a local meet-up called “Blogs, Brews and Belly Laughs” in his town, and it picked-up some local press. You can find out more–and maybe even get inspired to start your own group–by clicking here.

Help me give a huge shout-out to these bloggers for stepping-out from behind their computers and helping spread the word about IZEA!  We’ll keep you posted on future media appearances.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

This month we’re getting hella loco! It’s is, after all, Cinco de Mayo month. So we’d like to give huge shout-outs to our “RockStars of the Month.” As with those we acknowledge every month, we couldn’t do what we do without each of you.

Advertiser of the Month

“Holla!” to Woodstream Corporation , our May “Advertiser of the Month.” Woodstream is the holding company of a plethora of dynamic and innovative consumer brands -from beautiful Birdscapes birdfeeders, to the 100-year-old Victor Mouse snap traps, to Safer Brands organic gardening solutions and other natural pest repellants. Woodstream is dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of healthy families and their immediate environment. We appreciate their consistent patronage and look forward to continuing spreading the word about the great brands that make up the Woodstream family of properties.

If you’ve participated in a Woodstream campaign we’d love to hear what you thought about it. Just drop a comment in this post.

Postie of the Month

This Postie has been with the IZEA Community for quite some time – since the early days, actually. He was absent for a bit and has recently been more active, and we’re sure glad. “Joe Tech” blogs primarily about technology, and is very engaging with others on SocialSpark and on the IZEA Message Boards. Got a question? Go ahead and ask! You can find Joe on SocialSpark at http://socialspark.com/bloggers/joetech.

IZEA RockStar of the Month

This month’s IZEA employee of the month is Annie Kabourek. Annie is an Account Manager for the PayPerPost product and ensures that our client programs run as smoothly as possible. She’s also actively involved in many company-wide planning activities and has a great deal of passion for IZEA’s mission. Congratulations, Annie!

Cakeplows!

Of course, no IZEA Loco would be complete without the infamous cakeplows:

(Adam, Erin, Ted and Veronique)

Congrats to y’all! Have a great weekend and see you next month.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Great news! The latest PayPerPost rollout will most likely give you more marketplace Opportunities to choose from.

We recently discovered a bug in the PayPerPost system that was making available Opps appear red to some users, when they actually should’ve appeared white. Nope, you weren’t paranoid – there really were red Opps that you qualified for.

Thankfully, now all those Opps are available to you as they should be. This really IS great news! Please give props to our Dev team for working so hard to find a solution and to roll out the fix as soon as they could.

What does this news mean for you? It means you should log-in to your PayPerPost account immediately, and check-out which Opps are available to you!

Go ahead, do it. We bet you see a whole lot more white ones than you used to.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

These are truly IZEA fans, and I speak on behalf of the entire IZEA Team when I say “thank you” to Drew and his family. Glad you like the new site and can’t wait to see you guys at IZEAFest at SeaWorld!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Of course, there were the obligatory cakeplows for those with company anniversaries and birthdays — Mike, Luke and Eric were the lucky ones this month.

Here are some photos of IZEA Loco. You can find more pictures on our Flickr account.

We’d also like to extend congratulations to our November “RockStars of the Month.”  We certainly couldn’t do what we do without folks like them.

Postie of the Month:
Postie Claudia who manages the blog “New Jersey Baby Boomer,” as well as HappyNutritionist.com. Claudia lives in Northern New Jersey and has a passion for helping people live more nutritious lives.

Advertiser of the Month:
Sears Holdings Corporation. Sears Holdings brought us the recent, exciting Kmart campaign, and is about to launch another promoting Sears.

RockStar of the Month:
Congratulations to Larry Beaman, Solution Sales Manager on the Sears account. Way to go, Larry!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

We’re moving lunch to Thursdays!  Same time but different day!  Grab your lunch box or paper bag and head on over to Stickam.com/RockStartUp at 12pm EST and chat-it-up with us.  Here’s what you can expect:

- Worldosphere.  We spend a few minutes talking about news events and things going on in the world around us.
- Webosphere.  There are tons of new websites and blogs that pop-up on the Internet everyday.  During this segment we take a look at some of the more awesome ones we’ve stumbled across.
- IZEAsphere.  We cover some of the amazing things going on at IZEA headquarters, that you might not read about here on the blog or on the boards.

Looking forward to seeing you guys!  If you have any suggestions about topics of discussion please feel free to e-mail us. You never know…if we use your topic on the air we might even send you a special treat in the mail!

DISCLAIMER::  While we are employees of IZEA, please note we broadcast during our personal lunch hour (because we love engaging with our community).  The opinions shared are our own, and are not reflective of our investors, our Founder & CEO, or any other members of the IZEA Team.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Advertiser of the Month
eVisibility.  eVisibility is an Internet Marketing Company based out of California, with a wide range of clients.  They are the Advertiser who recently launched the Cisco campaign.

Postie of the Month
Forest Parks.  Forest manages various interactive sites, but the hub of his online business can be found at TheRandomForest.com Forest first began his blogging journey just over a year ago, and has built-up enough of an audience base to now consider himself a full-time blogger.  To learn more about Forest visit the about page of his site.

RockStar of the Month
Steve Wolitzsky.  Steve is an integral part of both the Development team and the business overall.  Why?  Well, Steve is Quality Assurance, which means he does lots and lots of testing on the IZEA products to ensure they’re working properly.  That’s a big job, and impacts both Bloggers and Advertisers. Things surely wouldn’t run as smoothly without Steve.

Give these folks some love, and congratulate them on their recognition!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Here’s the thoughtful note Jody included in her package to us:

And here’s the photo, which will soon be hanging on the wall:

Thanks for thinking of us, Jody!  You’ve got a PostiePack heading your way, so be on the lookout!

Show Jody some love by visiting her sites:

- HaveKidWillTravel.com
- IowaGeekOnline.com
- FabFoodFriday.com

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing