eROI Days Email Agency » Portland

The Need Map Project

Ryan Buchanan — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:57:19 +0000

Our team at eROI came up with a really cool concept called The Need Map project to make a difference in our own backyard. I love that this is a hyper-local effort that is focused on filling gaps that exist, instead of re-inventing the wheel.

To all the folks who are driving this effort, thank you thank you. This is just the beginning of helping the community for the long term, not just a holiday effort. Looking forward to seeing this seed germinate. Please go to www.needmap.com to give us your ideas.

The New Deal – Portland’s Startup Scene

Catt — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:44:09 +0000

If you are up and about and wandering the streets of Portland contemplating the businesses you watch come and go you may want to peek at the August 2010 Oregon Business Magazines article titled “The New Deal” written by Ben Jacklet. Yes! There are people working behind the scenes of Portland’s start up ventures and they are working hard to secure Portland’s economy in more ways than one.

These guys know small businesses drive the economy and in Portland that is just what we need now, being known as a pretty slow start up scene when compared with fast runners Seattle and San Francisco. They may not seem so glamorous to the naked eye but these small start ups need investors to get them off the ground and angel investors in Portland have not been so quick to spread their wings.

Oregon Business Magazine has just published the article to explain who is out there and what they are doing to get these small businesses and startups funded and on a steady growth pattern. The young business leaders featured here bring with them a wealth of new ideas to “ignite the startup scene”. These are the guys who are investing in Portland’s small startups not only financially but with new ideas and dynamic views on how to succeed.

Find out who they are and what they have been doing.

2 Days until the Old Town Block Party!

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:58:11 +0000

We are only two days away from the Old Town Block Party and the entire neighborhood is buzzing with anticipation. As I mentioned in my last Block Party post, this was born out of a brainstorming session at eROI and now has grown into an event with over 20 booths, a record release party, Seven Planet store opening and a rummage sale just to name a few happenings. The eROI lounge will be by the exit on 5th, between Couch and Davis. Come down and say hi to us and all the other Old Town businesses. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Portland Saturday then with food, drinks, shopping and a lot of music. Let’s celebrate our community and help re-erect the Hung Far Low Sign!

Check out the Old Town Block Party»

Donate to help re-erect Hung Far Low»

Portland Bike Culture: A Beautiful Thing

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:27:33 +0000

When I first started writing for this blog, it was called “Email Days” and featured lots of examples of everyday emails, highlighting the importance of email in our every day lives, not just touting email marketing only. So, I thought I’d go back to my roots a little bit and tell you about an email a friend sent me last night. He is an avid cyclist and knows I like cycling as well, despite the fact that we both mainly commute to work by bike and don’t get to do long rides very often as our weekends are consumed with raising young kids and different kinds of activities then biking. He sent a link to the video below, which is filmed in Portland, Oregon, and really captures the humor of two different types of cyclists – hipsters vs performance. This is one of the funnier videos I’ve seen in a while and is very close to home, literally and figuratively. Enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Online Marketing Summit Portland

Ryan Buchanan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:34:43 +0000

OMS has been touring the country to spread the word on online marketing the right way. On June 29th, OMS set up in Portland for a day full of expertise. I brought something back from every speaker and got to watch. eROI’s own Alex Williams did a great job of breaking down the value of a good welcome email for the crowd. Here are some of my other notes from the event:

Aaron Khalow started the event off with key points like 63% of website visitors who don’t find what they are looking for will never come back. It makes a strong case for optimizing your site. He stressed that your website is your foundation but it won’t matter unless you have the tools to encourage people to find it. The three pillars were search – with SEO having the largest impact, email – the fabric that holds it all together, and analytics – customization is key.

Ray “Catfish” Comstock, from Business Online, went deeper into some of these subjects. He illustrated a search cycle that went from ranking to repeat customer.

Ranking – [SEO] → Traffic – [Landing Page Optimization] → Conversions – [Marketing and Sales ]→ Sale – [Customer Service] → Repeat Customer

Why is ranking so important? 90% of traffic happens on the first page of search engines which means you have to be in the top 10 results to have a chance. Like Khalow pointed out, analytics play a huge factor in how you get to the repeat customer. Finding out what keywords are relevant is extremely valuable, personalization and location are both key components.

Other strategies Catfish brought up were optimizing video, news and the use of internal linking. These techniques are effective because there is a lot less competition than with traditional searches.

Tom Szaky is Gold at Greening of Greater Portland Event

Ryan Buchanan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:07:04 +0000

I met Tom Szaky, barely 25 years old at the time, and a pure, scrappy, entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, at the 2007 Inc. 500 conference in Chicago. He spoke before keynote President Clinton and was clearly the more engaging speaker of the two (a pretty tough feat considering how dynamic Clinton used to be). Tom, born in Hungary, grew up in Canada, and dropped out of Princeton to start “The Coolest Startup in America” called Terracycle where every product and its packaging is made out of garbage. His story is fascinating and the lessons business leaders and public policy-makers can learn from his success are significant. The irony for Portland, one of the greenest cities on Earth, is that most business leaders and policy folks had never heard of him and were quite doubtful that some young kid would be any good as a keynote speaker at the wildly successful Greenlight Greater Portland annual event – thankfully, Tom proved them wrong with an excellent presentation of how to win by innovating and by being greener, better, AND cheaper. I don’t have his presentation electronically, so until I get it, you’ll have to settle for the YouTube video on his Good Morning America and Oprah appearances six weeks prior.

The fun part of the day came later when Portland entrepreneurs John Friess (Wired.MD, Journey Gym, Seven Planet), Josh Friedman (Eleven Wireless, NedSpace), Martin (Climate Prosperity Portland, Formos) and I had drinks with Tom Szaky – it wasn’t your normal night of casual conversation over a beer. We took a detour to NedSpace and watched Friess give a straight-faced demo of his prototype product Journey Gym while the four of us were heckling him (at 10pm with a few drinks in us). The evening continued at next-door bar Lotus where we all brainstormed various products to make out of used toothbrushes, sun glasses, and dozens of other waste streams that could now have innovative uses once they’ve been separated from the rest of garbage before they get to landfills. Most off-the-wall idea: make kid-wagons out of compressed, used toothbrushes. Friess – you’re going to need to explain that concept a little better to me now, because it sounded so good Thurs night.

UNKL at Compound Gallery Tonight!

Hannah — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:36:02 +0000

It’s first Thursday in the Rose City and that means shops opened late, free drinks, lots of hipsters and UNKL showing at Compound Gallery! UNKL started right here in Portland with the creativity of Derek Welch and Jason Bacon.

The duo partnered with eROI to create our very own KillROI who has been everywhere from San Francisco to Chi Town!

Come to Compound Gallery tonight at 7pm and experience UNKL!

Will eROI take PAF Battle of the Bands for 3rd Straight Year?

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:58:16 +0000

Alcoa presents (sorry, that’s the beginning of a TV commercial of “The Catch” in the 1982 NFL NFC Championship flashback when Dwight Clark levitated to grab a perfect pass from Joe Montana to lift the 49ers over the Cowboys). But, I digress. My mind faded to the dramatic music to Monday Night Football, but it’s now back on the prize – bragging rights to the Third Annual PAF Battle of the Bands at Someday Lounge in Old Town / Chinatown, Portland, Oregon where the creatives show their true colors after dark. If you want to take a look at videos from prior year’s Battle of the Band, now is your time to really soak in some entertaining video for 2008. It’s going to be almost impossible for eROI to win it for yet a third year in a row, but we’re going to bring our “A” Game. Check it (this is PAF’s main event email and all the info is below):

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

DATE:
Wednesday June 17, 2009

TIME:
6:00 pm

PLACE:
Someday Lounge
224 NW 5th Avenue
Portland, OR

COST:
$300 per band

Yes, it’s time once again for the infamous PAF Battle of the Bands. And if you haven’t guessed, the theme this year is the 90′s.

Ahhh, remember Jon Bon Jovi, Dee Lite, Madonna, Nirvana and the most wonderful of all, M.C. Hammer?

So put on your pantaloons or your plaid shirt (or both) and sign up your band for a chance at glory.

Sign-up Deadline is May 30th

Do you know your membership status? Join the dynamic men and women of Portland’s Creative Services
Contact the PAF office, 503.224.2623, or jamie@portlandadfed.com.

PLEASE WRITE A HAIKU COMMENT ON YOUR LOVE OF 90′S ROCK BANDS, RAP, POP MUSIC, ANY OF IT. CONTINUE THE INSPIRATION!

Video: Why Portland Rocks for Business and Life

Ryan Buchanan — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:44:17 +0000

The PDC (Portland Development Commission) put together this video featuring business folks from Laika, Ziba, Columbia Sportswear, Oregon Iron Works, Vestas, Wieden+Kennedy and eROI. If you dig Portland and the surrounding area, check out the video below.

NY Times Covers Portland Biking Culture

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:29:21 +0000

As I was biking in to work this morning along Waterfront Park (Willamette River and Mt. Hood views), I caught up with a colleague of mine who works at the PDC and we rode the rest of the way into work together. It was one of those “Portland moments” where it would be unexpected anywhere else for a couple business guys who haven’t seen each other in 3 months connect on a morning commute into work. Portland, like Amsterdam, has a biking culture, and with the right gear, it’s refreshing to bike rain or shine (although SUN is so so much better). Here is the NY Times article my Dad (who lives in Washington DC) sent me as I arrived at my desk this morning:

“A LOT of good cyclists come out of Portland just because you can ride year-round,” said Bruce Rogers, an athletic-shoe designer visiting from his home in Hailey, Idaho. “I love coming back because I love the biking, no matter what time of year it is. More than fitness, it’s a fun outlet. As long as you have decent rainwear you can ride in any weather.”

Careering through streets on a bicycle in Portland, Ore., this time of year can be an easy weekend adventure that mixes showers, sunbursts, cafes and a robust bicycle culture. And equipped with a sturdy rain jacket, booties, fenders and a bike map (a waterproof version that folds to the size of a credit card is handy), visitors can enjoy the city the way locals do.

Check out the rest of the New York Times article here »