Hi there 👋

I’m Hannes, a Computer Scientist with a passion for growth marketing. This powerful combination gives me a unique perspective of the ever-changing realm of the Internet, how people use the Internet and how best to deliver results for businesses.

Hannes Johnson giving a presentation about social business

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I like creating stuff: photos, music, websites, videos…

Here are a few things I’ve created

Bulby.com screenshot

Bulby

  • In 2022, I co-founded Bulby with my wife, Birna Dröfn Birgisdóttir.
  • Bulby is an AI-powered web app and the first version is focused on helping remote teams problem-solve and brainstorm better – getting more ideas and more innovative solutions to challenges, big and small.

Málið.is bookmarklet

Screenshot: Málið.is bookmarklet

Presentation about social media and policies

  • A presentation (in Icelandic) I gave on May 16, 2013 about social media marketing and social media policies at a conference called Social Business – Vinnuumhverfi framtíðarinnar (which translates to Work environment of the future), organized by Nýherji and TM Software in co-operation with IBM.
  • The title of my presentation was Stefnan sett á samfélagsmiðla (which is a play on words, but translates to The policy/direction put on social media).

When Tumblr Is Down

When Tumblr Is Down
Loro - Helping entrepreneurs

Loro

  • In 2013, I co-founded Loro with my (now) wife, Birna Birgisdóttir. We combined our expertise of creativity and digital marketing to help entrepreneurs grow their business.
  • We created articles, creativity chatbots & video courses like Entrepreneur Starter Kit to help startups create and market their ideas.
  • We’ve since pivoted that into Bulby.

Presentation about email marketing and responsive email design

  • A presentation (in Icelandic) I gave on October 10, 2013 about email marketing and responsive email design at a conference about web solutions and online marketing for the travel industry, organized by TM Software. The title of the presentation was Markpóstar sem hitta í mark.

New York City Hyperlapse

  • The app Hyperlapse (from Instagram) was released shortly before we went on vacation to NYC in 2014. It was a great opportunity to try out Hyperlapse and record a few short clips. I put them together, added a fitting song and out came this video.
  • This video is part of a permanent exhibition at a museum in Luleå, Sweden – the exhibition is created in collaboration with Facebook, around their data center there.

Presentation about Search Engine Optimization

The Only Kid It’s Okay to Bully

  • Published on March 18, 2015
  • 5-Second Films make absurd, funny and very short videos. Because of their Kickstarter campaign I got to submit an idea for a 5-second film they then made, which they called The Only Kid It’s Okay To Bully.
  • Their fans seem to like my idea/script – here are a few select YouTube comments: “Not bad, 5SF. Not bad. I’m glad you have some good prompts in the mix.”, “The description was funnier than the video” and “Best Prompt/Sketch to date gg”.
  • Views: 160,000+

Presentation about social media

  • A presentation (in Icelandic) I gave on October 18, 2012 about social media marketing at a conference about web solutions, organized by TM Software: Töff Stöff! Veflausnadagur TM Software. The presentation was called Í hvernig sambandi ertu á samfélagsmiðlunum?
Screenshot of the Don Comodo website

Don Comodo

  • In 2016 I launched Don Comodo, an online store selling e.g. t-shirts and sweaters.
  • It was a creative outlet and a sandbox to do various experiments.

Presentation: Growth Hacking and Other Smart Digital Marketing Tactics

The Loo (photo series)

  • In 2021 I did my first private photo exhibit that I called ‘The Loo’. The series had been in the works for over 10 years and included photos of more than 400 toilets. The exhibit was held at Núllið Gallerý, Bankastræti 0 (Reykjavík, Iceland) – where there used to be public toilets for a long time, last century.
  • 2 years later I noticed a trend around the content format of lots of photos, fast cuts, and a Kendrick & Radiohead mashup. I thought this photo series was fitting for the trend – and it seems like a lot of people agreed, because the video went viral on TikTok (~600,000 views).

Presentation about the growth funnel

Silly dot Tumblr dot Com

Silly dot Tumblr dot Com

  • I regularly come across silly and funny things on my travels around the Interwebs. I’ve posted a few select LOL-worthy pieces on silly.tumblr.com since February 2008.

Noise Orchestra (one-man band)

  • I’ve been playing around making electronic music for a while under different monikers. My first song published on Spotify (and other streaming platforms) is called ‘Army of Ants‘ under the moniker ‘Noise Orchestra‘ (that I use for “harder” electro).
Reykjavik Culture Night - Coney Island Train Station

Collaborative art exhibition (Reykjavik Culture Night)

  • I participated in a collaborative art exhibition organized by Arion Bank in connection with Reykjavik Culture Night. The art work was on display on bus stops and other billboards August 20-27, 2013 and the exhibition was called Götusýningin 2013. My piece was a photo I took at the Coney Island train station while I was in New York in 2010.

Article with 8 SEO tips

Article: Leitarvélabestun - 8 hollráð til að hjálpa vefsíðunni þinni að klífa hærra á Google - Part 1

Presentation about Google AdWords

The Big List of Icelandic Developers

  • In 2010 I was working with a small team on a startup/side project and we needed more developers. My friend, Ragnar Freyr, had already made a website he called The Big List of Icelandic Designers and Creatives and I was inspired to create a similar list of my own, focused on Icelandic developers. There is also an accompanying Twitter list to let you get a sense of the current mood of the Icelandic development community.
  • It’s a pleasure hearing about companies and individuals using this list as a reference to find potential employees and contractors, because that was pretty much the goal of this project :)
The Big List of Icelandic Developers

Hress: Annual playlist of upbeat songs

  • Since 2005 I’ve been creating annual playlists full of upbeat and energetic songs that I discover (or really like) that year.
  • I started collecting them in iTunes, but after setting up my Spotify account I’ve been creating the playlists there.
  • Some recent playlists can be found here: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Bacon Friday

  • Twitter account created with Brian Suda where we posted a bacon-related link every Friday from 2008-2018. Which means we posted over 500 bacon-flavored links.
  • We also created the single-serving website IsItBaconFriday.com.
Bacon Friday screenshot

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I post about growth marketing, startups, UX and tech