Q&A with a top social marketing expert in Israel

The favorite person I met in Israel was Ayelet Noff, who writes a social marketing blog at Blonde 2.0. I’d been following Ayelet’s blog for months, and I conducted a video interview with her that I’ll post soon. What came as a surprise was how solicitous and helpful she was in helping organize several events, such as the great bloggers dinner at Mandy’s along the Yarkon River. (We both share a dislike of unorganized affairs.)

Susan Mernit conducted a quick Q&A with her during our visit, and I’ll excerpt parts of it here:

A former New Yorker, Ayelet is one of those bi-cultural Israelis who
grew up in the US and then moved back.  Fluent in English and seemingly
effortlessly bi-cultural, Ayelet offers a much need broad perspective
to the high-tech start-ups that seek her counsel–she offers advice on
product development, marketing, partnerships and brand positioning; my
sense is she often provides a valuable and more savvy focus to Israeli
teams wanting to reach a global market. 

In addition, Ayelet is a born
connector; she truly knows everybody and relishes introducing people to
one another; the dinners, meet-ups, coffees and conversations she
helped created for the Travelling Geeks crowd on this last Israel trip were wonderful.

During The Marker’s COM. Vention; Israel’s equivalent of Web 2.0 Expo, I sat down with Ayelet and asked lots of questions. Here, some of the answers:

When did you start your blog, Blonde 2.0?  What made you dive in with it?

"My background is in marketing. I worked for TBWA Chiat/Day in New York for a while, then came home to Israel and worked at ICQ and
with some start-ups. 18 months ago I started Blonde 2.0–there was a
need for a marketing business that could explain Web  2.0 tools and
help them use and integrate them in the Israeli market; the name was
just a way to brand myself.

Are there many women who do what you do?

No,
not really.  For one thing, in Israel, many people marry and have
babies by the time they are 25 or 26, so not everyone wants to be as
entrepreneurial as me. Also, not everyone has the perspective I have;
I’m Israeli, but I’ve lived around the world and am able to see
different cultural and international points of view, particularly the
American market; that and my fluency in English set me somewhat apart.

How do you get business?

Well,
I’m pretty visible, between my work and my blog/brand. Clients often
come to me, either through word of mouth, or via my social networks.
Often, they’re at an early stage where they need a web site and lots of
positioning, or they’re farther along and they need to really focus on
the marketing.

What are the rules you try to run your business by?

• Always remember people who have helped you; be helpful in return. Build a good support network
• Do a good job -there is no replacement for that!
• Work with really smart people; use the best
• Don’t use your personal social network to promote stuff; you’ll burn people out.
• Never speak badly of anyone.
• Work with companies whose products you’d use yourself and that you believe it.
• Write about clients  in your blog, but discreetly–don’t overpromote.

For me, meeting Ayelet was great because she’s someone, perhaps like Deb Schultz in
the Bay area, who can bridge Israeli tech culture and the US Web 2.0
scene. Smart and motivated, Ayelet is both a pivotal part of the
Israeli scene and an interesting contributor.

JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.