One Year as a Forrester Analyst

Today marks my one year anniversary as an industry analyst at Forrester. It’s been an amazing journey so far, from conducting research to presenting it, advising clients, traveling the world, and following my passion for the web. I’ve learned a lot, messed up a few times and self-corrected (or have been market-corrected), met amazing leaders in the social space, and have helped brands and vendors move forward. Analysts are known for being critical (both positive and negative) of their market, and I certainly have given my fair share, now’s the chance for you to critique me back. I’d love to know what you think I could do better to improve as an analyst, a blogger, and as a professional, I’m listening.

41 Replies to “One Year as a Forrester Analyst”

  1. only one year? I thought you started here with 15 🙂 I personally really appreciate your job and how you promote the web space. There are few people who blog about it and actually are strongly involved in it (eg you went to facebook conventions, know vendors, helped brands, etc). And that’s just one of the reasons why I admire your initiative (maybe also an inhibitor for my external blogging- if JO’s blog is live what else could I say :-))))

    So keep up the good work and hope to read more interesting thoughts and analysis from you 🙂

  2. You do a great job. Since you asked:
    1. Put a monthly (sufficient) trend report on the top 3 things you heard that month from your customers (I think you mostly deal with the F1000 types right?). Just high level would suffice, I think we understand you have a job that pays.
    2. Be an evangelist to other “corporate” types to blog/share more. Right now the # of F1000 bloggers is still marginally low
    3. Talk about a case study (short will suffice) of how a company (vendor side) pitched to you successfully

    That said, you are doing an awesome job. Congratulations.

  3. Considering the fact that YOU are have influenced my career shift towards Social Media, a big THANK YOU!

    No need for advice, you are a self-evolving type of person 🙂

  4. Given the excellent quality of this blog and some of your research I read to our company subscription, I would have thought you are in this job for a much longer time! Congratulations on the 1 year at Forrester.

  5. Jeremiah
    It’s hard to keep up with you – slow down! (joke)

    Anything you can do to help us convince companies that social media is not a “flash in the pan” and that the methods are a legitimate part of a communications strategy.

    Equally, any evolution you identify in the measurement of social media results would help us all along our merry way.

    Thanks again.

  6. Everyone has a icon they look upto and a dreamjob. Incidentally – you and your job fit right there for me!

    Cheers to your blog!

    As for feedback – would love to see more case studies – more RoI stories. You know how helpful they are for social media evangelists to convince the LoB!

  7. Just saw this on twitter, will try to centralize:

    @jowyang in terms of anniversary feedback I’d say slow down just a bit. you’re rattling right past a lot of people who need to hear you

    from @Kingsley2

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  9. Jeremiah:
    Keep up the energy and show biz results. As a former analyst, I can tell who fakes it and who really believes in their work. You obviously believe.
    It would be helpful to always bring research back to how “social” affects the bottom line for companies.
    Keep up the great work.
    -Eric [twitter: @ekarofsky]

  10. I always value your weekly summaries and tweets in particular. Sometimes insightful, sometimes its just good information. If I have to be critical I would say that spelling and grammar can be a problem and sometimes it makes it difficult to understand the concept or perspective you are proposing. This I think comes from trying to say / do too much. 8 out 10 overall, 10 out 10 for inspiration though!

  11. Jeremiah,

    I only found your blog last week, and have come back to read every day since then…and will continue to do so for a while.

    I’m not sure about slowing down… your energy and the amount of information you give is what drew me in… but maybe some easy introductory content for new people like myself to get a better/quicker grasp of your world, that would be very welcome.

    Congradulations!
    You do a GREAT job!

  12. Congrats one your 1 year mark Jeremiah!

    There aren’t many blogs that I personally read that gets deep into the social world and analyzes it like you do. It’s a nice perspective to have compared to many of the other industry blogs out there. Keep up the fantastic work!

  15. Has it only been a year? Wow. With the amount and quality of information you’ve shared in that time (how many posts, I wonder?), it seems like you’ve been at it much longer.

    Keep up the great work! You’re providing a valuable service to your clients and to the market in general. Thanks for all that you do.

  16. Congrats on the one year anniversary, J.

    You consistently provide a great deal of value to the online conversation via your blog.

    Keep up the great work.

  18. Wow, I would have thought it longer. I can’t tell you how much you make me think beyond the headlines Jeremiah. Thanks for becoming quite the source for me. I can only think that your value for others and Forrester is immeasurable. Congratulations.

    Marc

  19. Perhaps you could try to bring your job into the blog more? Just a recommendation.

    Its not bragging to say something like, “because Forrester is one of the top web research companies, and I am an eminence grise at only 1 year, I was able to sit down with three billionaires for a frank discussion yesterday afternoon.”

    Whatever, I appreciate your sharing your thoughts in these articles. They are useful as is.

  21. Congratulations!!!
    I follow you regularly and I’ve learned a lot from your blog!

    Thanks a lot and keep going!!
    Maria Teresa

  22. This is my primary ‘industry’ blog that I follow. It is obvious that you know this stuff inside and out and your passion for this space is unmatched!

    Keep up the good work.

  23. You’re one of the most dedicated and tireless people I’ve seen online. Your offering extends beyond Forrester clients to anyone interested in social media from both business and consumer standpoints. You’re clearly adding shine to the public-facing Forrester brand. While I am aware of your online presence, however, I’m unaware of your client-facing work. From my vantage point, yours is an impressive contribution. Keep up the great work and ask for a raise!

  24. I have been following SN trends for six or more years. I am particularly interested SN comment content namely because:

    1. There are market opportunities yet discovered
    2. Some comments are compelling, funny, etc.
    3. Comments are serverly underrated

    I am persuaded that as analyst it would be to your advantage to callibrate your SN radar to thoroughly scrutinize SN comment content. Thanks for your time, see you at the top!

  26. Keep on trucking. What I’d like to see i more info from people directly. For example, maybe one post a week dedicated to a point, counter-point from someone else in the industry. Sign me up as the first person! congrats on the anniversary.

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  29. Thanks everyone for the feedback, I read each one, and see a few patterns (and am hearing some similar requests from a recent survey)

    Sharing a bit more of the behind the scenes is certainly something I can do. I do have a challenge with case studies, as they take a lot longer to interview, research, and write out.

  30. Congrats on the one year mark, Jeremiah! I will simply encourage you to remember that masters of social media participate on other sites and contribute to other blogs as much, or more, than they produce content on their own. 🙂

    See ya next month in Denver at the ThinAirSummit.com!

  31. Maybe not tweet so much! Excellent stuff though. I just can’t see my other friends. 😉

  32. Jeremiah, working with you has been a great experience. You were one of the smartest hires we ever made. (There, I said it publicly.)

    I will be honored to help you keep growing on the path you are on. Greatness awaits you.

    Now, if you could only learn to be in two or three places at once, you would be the perfect team member . . .

  33. Compliments! You get better each day at making us better each day. You’re one of the wisest, kindest, most generous guys I know. Top of the inspiration list for me and many! I’m grateful.

  35. I, too, enjoy your work. One idea: Can you look at industries and how their needs/opportunities might vary in the social media space? For example, I am personally interested in CPG and wonder how to measure up my efforts. Thanks again.

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  41. Given the excellent quality of this blog and some of your research I read to our company subscription, I would have thought you are in this job for a much longer time! Congratulations on the 1 year at Forrester.

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