Hi Friend. Brett here again with a rare email to you as a
subscriber to my Engineer Your Innovation blog. I should explain the
strange behavior with my latest blog post since it would have caused
you some frustration and confusion if you tried to read it the first time
it was published. But I also believe there's a valuable lesson and
opportunity for you here -- if you choose to see it that way.

My latest blog post is a GUEST POST. This is a proven and valuable
guerrilla marketing tactic and networking tool for people to use today.
Here's how it happened.

Through Twitter, I learned about the company Ennomotive. They have
created an online platform and community for engineers to market
themselves, look for projects, and do ACTUAL ENGINEERING WORK
for other teams, companies, or sponsors.

It's like Upwork or Craigslist but just for engineering.

Brilliant, I said to myself! Just what we need to be successful engineers
in the Digital Revolution!

So I gave them a quick Tweet out to promote them. We followed each
other on Twitter. (Once someone follows you and sends a complimentary
note out about you without even asking, you've just found a new fan and
friend, haven't you? So they followed me back.)

After they followed me back, I sent them a direct message on Twitter.
I said something like "Hey, love your mission and what you've created.
I'd love to promote you on my blog with a dedicated article about you.
Like that idea? Please let me know."

That started the conversation. They took me up on the offer.

Who wouldn't?!

Actually, most of the people I write to like that!! Maybe I should do a more
rigorous job tracking that... maybe it's my approach. Anyway, I'm letting
you know that all is not perfect and predictable in Brett's world.

Back to the story...

Rather than me write the article about them, they did it themselves.
That is ghost writing. You might notice the tone and style is a little
different from my normal writing style. We did a couple edits back and
forth but I chose not to change the style.

Here was the hiccup--I wanted them to see the final post before it went
"live" so they would confirm they were happy with it. I couldn't get a
preview or private link to work, so I published it as password protected
and gave them the password. That was the first email you saw. Sorry
about that! I need to find a better way to handle that part of the process.

I had been working with their Social Media manager on the article. With
the preview link, the CEO had a few more change requests. I took care
of those and then today I published it again as a public post. And started
my marketing of the post.

You might be wondering - did I ask to get paid? Did they offer?
The answer to both questions is No. Each situation may be different.
In this case, I considered it enough of a mutual value and interest to
promote them without financial compensation. There is still a lot of
mutual benefit here if you think about it. Hopefully you see their company
as a great find. I want to give you that level of quality and value.

They wrote the article and provided the images. So my normal work for
that was done by them. And we now have an established, positive
relationship that can benefit us both more later. They get the additional
marketing and credibility that comes from someone else talking positively
about them. (And I am providing real value by marketing them.)

Building a larger online presence has shifted my attitude about "paying
it forward." When I was younger, in college, I would have never done this.
I would have looked and asked for money in every situation. But I realize
now that this isn't how business happens. Little exchanges and trades
can happen without money and they are still very valuable. It is still
essential to look for win-win, and exchanging real value. But there is a
lot of value that happens without money.

I hope you appreciate this email to apologize for and explain the weird
publication of my latest blog post. If you need the direct invitation and
lesson, here it is: I love doing guest posts! :-) They benefit everyone
involved. So if you are looking for an innovative way to get your name
out there... to market your unique set of skills, insights, or services...
talk with me about exploring you as a guest poster on my blog. It could
be more appropriate and effective to be a genuine guest post - written
and credited as you. Those work great too.

Maybe you want to be a standout employee in your employer... what if
you write a post and mention the fun, valuable work you do there?
That becomes an authentic "ad" and online reference for your company.
If we do it right, that one article can get the attention of the people who
would want to hire your company. Boom, now you just brought in some
new business for your company! That's what will really help your career.

Thanks again for subscribing to my blog. I'm on a mission to help
engineers and engineering succeed in the digital revolution. If there's
anything more (or less) or different I can do to help you there, please let
me know. All feedback is appreciated and helpful!

Things are tough out there. And it's going to get tougher unless we
figure out how to engineer our innovation forward.

Take care and take charge,
Brett

Almost forgot - here's the article if you need it again:

Opportunities for engineers happen in the Ennomotive community
http://bit.ly/28JfNho