The Chestnut Hill Local’s new advertising sales representative, Jason Hellmann, is used to working in digital media. For example, his most recent position was a marketing role at the Please Touch Museum, running the organization’s website and digital ads.
Despite mostly working behind the scenes in the media field, Hellmann has been the subject of an interview once before.
“This is my first newspaper interview,” Hellmann told the Local last week. “The only other interview was when I made a weird little website that went mini-viral.”
Right after graduating from Penn State University, Hellmann created a website, SEO Lol, named after Search Engine Optimization, a process of improving a website’s visibility in search results to attract more visitors. Hellmann used anonymized Google search data to find interesting topics to write about. Viral blogs sometimes picked up the stories, resulting in Hellmann getting a call from an Australian news station.
“They said, ‘We saw this on the Yahoo News feed in their Weird News section,’” Hellmann laughed. “I have no idea how they got my number.”
The Local sat down with the new staff member to discuss the importance of fostering relationships with clients, the challenges of his role, and the art of being a “serial hobbyist.”
Finding his niche
Hellmann grew up in Northeast Philadelphia for the first few years of his life before moving to Abington Township. In college, he majored in music as a cello player. Shortly after, he switched his major to history with the goal of attending law school. However, Hellmann realized that plan was not for him.
Upon graduation, Hellmann started working for a public relations and communications firm. He found his niche.
“I was really drawn to the digital aspect of it,” Hellmann said. “Seeing all the different data you could get a hold of was really cool and exciting, so I just hopped around to different aspects of media ever since.”
Joining the Local
Hellmann moved to Chestnut Hill six years ago with his wife, Haley. A few months ago, Haley saw a post on the Local’s Instagram page looking for an advertising sales representative. Hellmann was familiar with the Local and was intrigued.
“I recently left [the Please Touch Museum] and was looking for something new. I really loved the idea of being community-oriented,” Hellmann said. “It just seemed like an interesting, mutual fit.”
Since starting at the Local in August, Hellmann has met with businesses and organizations throughout Germantown, Mt. Airy, Chestnut Hill, and Lafayette Hill. He said the first month was “great,” and he looks forward to expanding digital offerings while growing the print newspaper as well.
Leisha Shaffer, sales and marketing manager for the Local, will oversee Hellmann’s role.
“Jason is excited about working with the businesses in the community to develop dynamic and effective marketing plans,” Shaffer said. “With his deep experience in the digital arena, he will be a valuable resource for both his customers and the Local in creating new opportunities and offerings through our online platforms.”
Learning curve
Hellmann said he has not worked with print media often, and experienced a bit of a learning curve.
“Once [an ad] is set and out there, it’s just kind of out there. Being able to change ads on the fly can be useful,” Hellmann explained. “Also, not being able to see immediate numbers of how many clicks and impressions means relying more on developing relationships with the business owners.”
These one-on-one relationships with clients are “unbelievably important” to Hellmann.
“I don’t think you can do your job as an ad rep if you don’t understand the needs and pain points of every business that you interact with,” Hellmann said.
Hobbies and more hobbies
Outside of work, Hellmann said his main hobby is knitting — an interest that fits perfectly with where he lives.
“I try to go to some of the local knit nights at Kelbourne Woolens and Wild Hand,” Hellmann said. “Northwest Philly is an incredibly dense area for fiber arts and fiber artists. The fact that we have multiple knitting shops that can all thrive with their own customer base is really cool.”
Knitting aside, Hellmann also enjoys rock climbing — until it gave him a stress fracture in his hip. Now, his current interest is playing board games. Hellmann can also often be seen walking with his kids along the Avenue and being pulled into Zipf’s Candies or Chill on the Hill for a sweet treat.
Jason Hellmann can be reached at Jason@chestnuthilllocal.com.
Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.