Focus Is Your Friend: How to double down on marketing that matters

Dear FIFY Listeners This is our final episode of Focus Is Your Friend. Thank you for listening for the past 67 episodes! I’ve really enjoyed bringing the podcast to you and talking with so many smart marketers about how to make traction in this crazy world. I appreciate all your feedback and emails – hopefully they helped us produce an increasingly better show. We’ve decided that we’re going to put our time into a more entertaining, storytelling format. So we’re ending Focus Is Your Friend so that we can bring you something even better soon. (There’s only so much time in a day, and, hello, focus is my friend!) Please subscribe to the newsletter here and we’ll let you know when our new awesome listening experience is ready for prime time. Here’s to doing fewer great things over more mediocre things! Lee  

Erin Dwyer is a marketing guru with a passion and enthusiasm for the digital world. Erin is currently the SVP of Ecommerce, Social and Digital Marketing for a cosmetics company in Orange County, CA. Erin started her career in the advertising side of the business and has worked at prestigious agencies throughout her career including J Walter Thompson, DDB, Wong Doody and TBWA/Chiat/ Day. She's worked in gaming, software technology and entertainment categories. With digital’s impact on all industries, Erin’s aim is to help companies and brands understand how to use the space and navigate it to bring them desired results and prepare for what’s next. “The most important thing for anyone in any category is to realize that the concept of marketing as we once knew it is basically over” – Erin Dwyer What you’ll learn about in this episode: What today’s marketing mix looks like and how to stay relevant How to find value in your marketing approach and tactics while looking outside the box How to realize that marketing isn’t a function, but rather the DNA of your organization How to think about your company’s strategy and add value in a more altruistic way How to show who you are and who your company wants to be How to lean on others and share information to achieve better results How to keep an active social presence for a brand How to prioritize  Ways to contact Erin: Website: www.Digi-Darwin.com  LinkedIn: ErinKDwyer

Glenn Mattson is the president of Mattson Enterprises, a consulting and training firm which specializes in helping you put those plans you’ve spent so much time creating into action. Learn what it takes to connect the dots and ensure success. “I think that's the number one challenge that business owners have is they assume that they know their audience when in reality they know very little about them.”  – Chris Dayley What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to implement the plans you’ve spent so much time creating  How to reach your goals without wasting your time What separates an okay sales department from a fantastic one Why is leadership so important when executing plans Ways to contact Glenn: Website: www.Mattson.Sandler.com LinkedIn: GlennMattson

Drew Neisser, is the founder and CEO of Renegade, an award-winning agency that helps CMOs find innovative ways to break through. He is a true renegade thinker, and he has helped dozens and dozens of CMOs create marketing programs worth writing about, and he has told the story of over 200 of his CMO friends via his Ad Age column and his first book, The CMO’s Periodic Table: A Renegade’s Guide to Marketing   “I think that's the number one challenge that business owners have is they assume that they know their audience when in reality they know very little about them.”  – Chris Dayley What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to survive by focusing What are the basic elements CMOS need to manage expectations How to continue innovating everyday Why CMOS fail and how t avoid the failure trap How to execute at scale Why courage always precedes vision How to set clear marketing expectations Why a CMO needs board-level support and how to secure it Other resources: A/B Testing Starter Guide Visual Website Optimizer Optimizely Ways to contact Chris: Twitter: @ChrisDayley Website: www.DisruptiveAdvertising.com 

Drew Neisser, is the founder and CEO of Renegade, an award-winning agency that helps CMOs find innovative ways to break through. He is a true renegade thinker, and he has helped dozens and dozens of CMOs create marketing programs worth writing about, and he has told the story of over 200 of his CMO friends via his Ad Age column and his first book, The CMO’s Periodic Table: A Renegade’s Guide to Marketing   “Awareness erodes at about a 50 percent a month rate, so if you can’ t create something that is sustainable over time, don’t bother spending the money.”  – Drew Neisser What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to survive by focusing What are the basic elements CMOS need to manage expectations How to continue innovating everyday Why CMOS fail and how t avoid the failure trap How to execute at scale Why courage always precedes vision How to set clear marketing expectations Why a CMO needs board-level support and how to secure it Other resources: The CMO’s Periodic Table: A Renegade’s Guide to Marketing by Drew Neisser Ways to contact Drew: Twitter: @DrewNeisser Website: www.renegade.com  

Brandon Laws is the Director of Marketing at Xenium HR. He has helped companies go from twenty people to ninety people with just himself, a coordinator and a very small budget. Learn how to target an audience effectively with small money and big ideas that translate.   “One of our taglines [at Xenium] is ‘developing great employers’ and I think how you do that is you educate them and you continue to provide best practice advice and provide value always.” - Brandon Laws What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to target an audience effectively with small money and big ideas The key to getting people to pay attention to your marketing efforts Why sustainability is sexy How to optimize your content Why marketing efforts require a hypothesis Why networking is so important to connect with C-level executives Why marketing doesn’t have to have a huge price tag to be effective Other resources: Youtility by Jay Baer Ways to contact AJ: Twitter: @BrandonLaws Website: www.xeniumhr.com 

AJ Wilcox is a digital marketing fanatic who found early success with LinkedIn Ads. He started B2Linked, a niche agency, and LinkedIn Certified Partner. He's a ginger & triathlete. He & his wife live in Utah with their 4 kids, and his company car is a go-kart.   “The most beautiful part about LinkedIn is the targeting. It’s scalable access to professionals at a really granular level.” - AJ Wilcox What you’ll learn about in this episode: The right-sized approach to using LinkedIn and Facebook for B2B marketing Why you need to have a flexible strategy for many budgets A data-driven strategy for engagement to find the right people and keep them The best way to develop your relationship with an audience How to create content for smart audience development What it means to pay more to get more with LinkedIn How to find that middle-ground of content and contact to maximize ROI The easiest way to create content for white collar recruitment campaigns Why LinkedIn offers the best targeting - market directly to companies you choose Ways to contact AJ: Twitter: @WilcoxAJ Website: b2linked.com

Building and growing businesses, from category creation to global expansion, is a passion of Mike Porcaro’s and it's a through-line in his career. He believes that there are few things more satisfying than the sense of accomplishment a team feels when they've achieved what may have seemed impossible just a few months prior.   “A great idea wasn’t great only one time.” - Mike Porcaro What you’ll learn about in this episode: Boomi: the world’s leading integration platform (the software that connects all your disparate systems) How Mike took Boomi from credibility to credibility & awareness Why he quickly hired experts in different fields to help Boomi grow Ensuring ROI from your agency and why you must expect partner level work Speaking to all consumers as humans How to expand internationally by keeping your message hyperlocal with an appropriate amount of centralized consistency Measuring how many people are talking about a business and making sure they’re talking about what you want them to talk about Getting clear on what success looks like A/B testing to figure out where to spend your marketing dollars

Entrepreneur, speaker, and writer Pia Silva is a partner and brand strategist at Worstofall Design where they build "Badass Brands without the BS" for 1-3 person service businesses in 1-3 day intensives. She is a Forbes contributor and has spoken at a host of entrepreneurial organizations including Goldman Sach's 10,000 Small Businesses, Million Dollar Women’s Summit, Squarespace, and We Work. Her company was named top "10 Design Firms Lead By Young People That Are Changing the Way We Look at the World" by Complex. Her book “Badass Your Brand: Impatient Entrepreneur’s Guide to Turning Expertise into Profit” launched March 16th, 2017.   “The one mistake everyone is making is they're not sticking forcefully to their focus and their message.” - Pia Silva What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Worstofall Design helps their clients build badass brands in three days or less Leveraging profitability by getting very few clients at a high price point Brandshrink (strategy session) and Brandup (execution): how Worstofall Design’s two services work “Badass Your Brand”: why Pia wrote the book Why you must stick forcefully to your message Choosing which marketing efforts to utilize based on their ROI Why clients need to buy all in on their agency’s expertise Managing the psychology of the client Ways to contact Pia: Website: worstofalldesign.com Book: www.badassyourbrand.com Twitter: @PiaLovesYourBiz Instagram: www.instagram.com/pialovesyourbiz

Joe Stradinger began his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen. His first assignment was in Budapest, Hungary, where he performed business valuations to support the privatization effort of former Iron Curtain countries. Joe eventually transferred to Arthur Andersen Business Consulting where he supported major telecommunications clients such as GTE and MCIWorldCom. In October of 1998, he co-founded Musicforce.com, the Internet's largest retailer focused exclusively on one of the fastest growing genres of music - contemporary Christian music. At Musicforce.com, he oversaw finance and operations as CFO and COO as well as a member of the board of directors. In July 1999, Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE GET) purchased a controlling interest in Musicforce.com at a valuation of $30 Million. The site and its management team formed the cornerstone of Gaylord Entertainment's new internet division, Gaylord Digital. As Gaylord Digitals VP of Strategic Development, Joe was responsible for all business opportunity development for the company including investments, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and new-market development. In 2012, Joe launched EdgeTheory, a conversation media company. EdgeTheory's platform creates, publishes and analyzes content at scale through proprietary conversation mapping & creation technology. The result for our customers is a greater share of the conversation that grows their market share.   “We don't live in a search age anymore, we live in a find age. We have to go find people that aren’t looking for us.” - Joe Stradinger What you’ll learn about in this episode: Content as a service: why you can’t have a conversation without content How EdgeTheory uses development engineers and conversation engineers to develop content EdgeTheory’s conversational maps that they use with clients to direct the kinds of conversations they need to have on social Why CMOs need to think of themselves as a publisher that builds a media company Why every company in every industry needs to own their conversation What people often misunderstand about social media The divide between the people who know what to say (those with experience) and those who know how to really use social media (younger employees) Why content creation is the new SEO Ways to contact Joe: Website: edgetheory.com Twitter: @joeoptions Ted Talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5xHI4C2HwA

Ken helps B2B growth company executives in sales, marketing, and the C-Suite to breakthrough, achieve, and grow market leadership in new and existing markets. His clients not only lead, they improve key sales and marketing metrics like leads to revenue and opportunities to close. Ken has spent 20+ years in B2B marketing roles, launching the Intel Inside broadcast co-op program in 1991 and the Internet’s first affiliate marketing program, Netscape Now, at Netscape from 1995-99; has been CMO at several start-ups; and has run network security marketing at McAfee. In the 7 years of his consulting practice, Ken’s clients – including FireEye, Nimsoft, and others – have generated over $6B of shareholder value through IPOs and acquisitions, while several others have reached private equity valuations of $1B+.   “What really I do is encourage my clients to do is use a framework I call AIM. And AIM stands for Approach, Innovation, and Mindset.” - Ken Rutsky What you’ll learn about in this episode: Ken’s book "Launching To Leading" and how his blog led to his book The danger of getting stuck in the launch and always looking for that next feature How to get people to pay attention to you by telling the right story AIM: approach, innovation, and mindset Minimal viable product vs a more robust product: what you need to pay attention to Why customer loyalty is the only differentiation you really have Putting all your resources towards your best marketing plan Ways to contact Ken: Website: kenrutsky.com Book: LaunchingToLeading.com

John Brubaker is a nationally renowned business performance consultant, speaker, and award-winning author. John teaches audiences how to obtain better results in business with straightforward tools that turbo charge performance. Using a multidisciplinary approach, “Coach Bru” helps organizations and individuals develop their competitive edge. John is the author of two award-winning books: “The Coach Approach: Success Strategies From The Locker Room To The Board Room,” and “Seeds of Success: A Leader, His Legacy, and The Lessons Learned.” He also co-authored “Leadership: Helping Others To Succeed.” His latest book "Stadium Status: Taking Your Business to the Big Time" is available for pre-order. Brubaker was recently named to Forbes Magazine’s “Top 10 Consultants Who Avoid The B.S”. John and his books have been featured in Forbes, CBS Radio, ESPN Radio, Talent Magazine, Sold Magazine, Fox Sports, Bloomberg News, NBC Sports Radio, Huffington Post and The Street.com. His clients range from financial services to healthcare and manufacturing. Universities, sports teams, and non-profits also call on John to enhance their teamwork and leadership performance. John is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in personnel psychology. Brubaker has completed his doctoral coursework in Sport Psychology at Temple University.   "It is amazing how people think there is such a thing as overnight success simply because shows like ‘The Voice’ and ‘America’s Got Talent’ instantaneously ‘discover’ people. Just because they were instantly ‘discovered’ doesn’t mean they didn’t spend 10 years honing their craft.” - John Brubaker What you’ll learn about in this episode: John’s new book “Stadium Status: Taking Your Business to the Big Time” Why “stadium status” isn’t just for individuals but also for brands and why brands have to stay in their lane Lessons you can learn from Garth Brooks like changing your “worst” customer’s view of you and your brand and delivering a mind-blowing customer experience The overnight success fallacy and why you need to focus on being the best you that you can be Narrowcasting vs. broadcasting: how to turn your raving fans into advocates Why achieving “stadium status” is all about the abundance mentality Ways to contact John: New book: stadiumstatusbook.com Twitter: @CoachBru

Robert (Bob) Glazer is the founder and Managing Director of Acceleration Partners, and the founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. He is a serial entrepreneur with an exceptional track record and passion for growing revenue and profits for B2C-based companies. In demand by top brands and investment firms, he has extensive experience in the consumer, e-commerce, retail, online marketing, and ad-tech industries partnering with brands such as Adidas, ModCloth, Reebok, Target, Tiny Prints, Gymboree, and Warby Parker. Bob is a regular contributor to numerous outlets, writing about performance marketing, strategy, and culture. He is the recipient of the Boston Business Journal 40 under 40 award, the SmartCEO Boston Future 50 award, and a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in New England, among other accolades. A sought-after speaker, Robert presents to global audiences and serves as an advisor to high-growth businesses. Bob strongly believe in giving back; he served on the Board of Directors for the Performance Marketing Association, BUILD Boston and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay. He is a global leader in Entrepreneur's Organization (EO), founded The Fifth Night charitable event (www.fifthnight.org), and participated in the annual Rodman Ride for Kids for a dozen years, raising almost $100,000 for charity. Bob is releasing a new book "Performance Partnerships" which takes the first in-depth look at the affiliate (performance) marketing industry, examining its roots, evolution and ongoing transition into one of the most important forms of direct-to-consumer digital marketing. In the book, Robert Glazer defines the elements of true affiliate marketing for the first time and demonstrates for marketing leaders how to properly leverage the channel for its unique ability to drive attributable sales and strengthen brand awareness.   "You have to make sure that there’s an active and engaged partner on the other side of the table.” - Robert Glazer What you’ll learn about in this episode: Affiliate marketing: when a company and a marketing partner enter into a pay-for-performance commission-based relationship How the affiliate marketing industry has evolved from the “don’t ask, don’t tell” early days to today Why understanding the numbers you want is key with affiliate marketing Finding partners that are brand aligned Robert’s new book “Performance Partnerships” that will help you do affiliate marketing better Finding the right people to run affiliate marketing programs Using your resources on the right affiliate marketing programs Ways to contact Robert: Website: www.accelerationpartners.com Friday Forward: www.fridayfwd.com Book: "Performance Partnerships"

Liz O’Donnell is Double Forte’s Chief Content Officer, responsible for the firm’s and its clients' digital marketing and social media strategies. She blogs regularly for the agency on the dynamic world of social media, digital communication and being heard in a very loud world. Active in her community, Liz is a member of her town’s warrant and finance committee and co-founded Women in Democracy, a non-partisan organization that encourages women to run for local office.   When you lead with the creative, you're more likely not to align with your business goals.” - Liz O'Donnell What you’ll learn about in this episode: Asking “what are we trying to achieve for the company?” when brainstorming a piece of content Figuring out which of your business goals you can achieve through your content strategy (it can’t be all of them) and which of those goals have energy behind them Picking a purpose per platform and aligning them with the business goal that makes sense for that platform Why you should lead with data -- not creative Understanding who you’re trying to reach and having multiple personas based on those customers Wrapping your content in context When and how to get creative Ways to contact Liz: Email: lodonnell@double-forte.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz3point0 Website: www.double-forte.com Twitter: @LizODTweets Resources: Double Forte's blog

Liz O’Donnell is Double Forte’s Chief Content Officer, responsible for the firm’s and its client’s digital marketing and social media strategies. She blogs regularly for the agency on the dynamic world of social media, digital communication and being heard in a very loud world. Active in her community, Liz is a member of her town’s warrant and finance committee and co-founded Women in Democracy, a non-partisan organization that encourages women to run for local office.   “Make sure your content is easy to consume.” - Liz O'Donnell What you’ll learn about in this episode: What actionable content is Why all content needs an action Mixing content to reach customers at different times for different lengths of time based on where they are in the customer journey How many channels your business needs to be on How content gives customers context Building what action you want into your content map Be realistic: why you shouldn’t expect people to leave comments Being explicit on the actions you want your audience to take The top three ways to make content actionable Ways to contact Liz: Email: lodonnell@double-forte.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz3point0 Website: www.double-forte.com Twitter: @LizODTweets Resources: Brawny everyday hero ad featuring Lee’s husband and son: www.facebook.com/brawny/videos/1564423836901759 SumoMe WordPress plugin: wordpress.org/plugins/sumome PushCrew WordPress plugin: wordpress.org/plugins/pushcrew

Liz O’Donnell is Double Forte’s Chief Content Officer, responsible for the firm’s and its client’s digital marketing and social media strategies. She blogs regularly for the agency on the dynamic world of social media, digital communication and being heard in a very loud world. Liz is the author of Mogul, Mom & Maid: The Balancing Act of the Modern Woman, a book that picks up where other business books leave off – understanding the impact women’s personal lives have on their careers and the ways business can support working women. Her website WorkingDaughter.com supports women who are balancing caring for an aging parent and their career. She is a frequent speaker and consultant to women who want to thrive and the organizations that want to reach and mobilize women. Active in her community, Liz is a member of her town’s warrant and finance committee and co-founded Women in Democracy, a non-partisan organization that encourages women to run for local office.   “Success and traction happen after you stop hitting the refresh button.” - Liz O'Donnell What you’ll learn about in this episode: Good content vs. bad content: what’s the difference Using one piece of content in multiple locations and formats Sharing your content where it will resonate How to use Canva to create the perfect graphic for each platform Why one form of content will not work for every audience The danger of serving up the same piece of content in multiple formats to the same audience all at once How to use your most popular platform to build your other platforms out Merchandizing your content Why you need to focus on the long game Not signing up for more content than you can do Ways to contact Liz: Email: lodonnell@double-forte.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz3point0 Website: www.double-forte.com Twitter: @LizODTweets Resources: Canva Meet Edgar How to share your content   Well: “Honored to be included in ….” Terribly:“Check me out on …”  

Nav Athwal is the Founder and CEO of RealtyShares, a curated online marketplace for real estate investing. His platform connects individual and institutional investors to private U.S. real estate investments, raising $200 million across more than 400 deals in 31 states. Prior to founding RealtyShares, Nav was a real estate and land use attorney in San Francisco, representing developers, fund managers, nonprofits and public and private REIT's on some of the largest US real estate and renewable energy projects. Nav holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC Davis and a J.D. from UC Berkeley Law School where he was Class Valedictorian. Nav is also is a regulator contributor to Forbes and TechCrunch.   “You can make the mistake of using data to make premature decisions that aren’t good for you.” - Nav Athwal What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why RealtyShares invested heavily in PR in their early days Why you need to find what makes you different from everyone else in your marketplace How Nav uses writing to establish himself as a thought leader The key to measuring metrics accurately Measurements that Nav focuses on like the cost of acquiring customers, engagement post acquiring them, etc. Why RealtyShares only does deals that produce regular (monthly, quarterly) cash flow for their investors How much time Nav spends on writing every month How to use other writers to assist in your writing but retaining your voice Why the most important element of thought leadership is spending the time thinking Why you need to test a marketing campaign before you spend all of your resources on it Ways to contact Nav: Website: www.realtyshares.com Twitter: @navathwal Twitter: @realtyshares Facebook: www.facebook.com/RealtyShares LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/navathwal

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is the Founder and CEO of Transformational Consumer Insights, Inc., a data, insight, and strategy firm. TCI helps brands understand, reach, and engage Transformational Consumers: a hyper-growth segment of consumers that view all of life as a series of campaigns to change their behavior in order to live healthier, wealthier, wiser lives. Formerly, Tara was the first and only VP, Marketing for MyFitnessPal, now part of Under Armour Connected Fitness. Over 160 million people worldwide use Under Armour Connected Fitness apps to get an around-the-clock view of their food and fitness activities. In Tara’s first year on the job, MyFitnessPal grew from 45 million to 100 million users, drove a 22 percent increase in user engagement, and went from raising an $18 million Series A to the acquisition by Under Armour for $475 million. Tara created the Transformational Consumer Insights framework in 2012, and has continued to develop it throughout a career of working with the biggest brands in consumer tech to reach and engage hundreds of millions of consumers by helping them make the difficult behavior changes they struggle with as they aspire to live healthier, wealthier, and wiser lives. Tara’s exuberant belief that business can be a powerful, transformational force for humanity and her team’s deep expertise in predictive data science, neuropsychology, behavioral economics, content marketing, brand, and digital strategy powers TCI’s approach and offerings. Tara has developed and executed integrated marketing, content, PR and social media strategies that achieved the traffic, brand, PR, niche marketing, business development and revenue objectives of behavior-focused digital companies like HGTV, Eventbrite, ING Direct, Chegg, Lookout Mobile Security, ModCloth, and real estate search engine Trulia.com. Tara holds a Master’s degree in Psychology and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. Tara is the Board President of City Slicker Farms, a non-profit community farming and food security organization in West Oakland.   “Part of the reason most B2B marketing is terrible is that people think they’re marketing to a company, but that’s not a thing. Every single person who is going to place the order is a human being.” - Tara-Nicholle Nelson  What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why you need to focus more on the people that you’re marketing to instead of the product that you are marketing Transformational consumers: what you need to know about marketing to these influential consumers Why consumer disengagement is a human problem, not a digital problem Why you can’t do B2B marketing without focusing on the humans placing the order Why you need to spend enough time on the customers you already have Why all of the teams in your company need to align on one goal Why you should negotiate to be able to achieve your marketing efforts cheaper Why you need to focus on the message, not the medium Ways to contact Tara: Website: transformationalconsumer.com Twitter: @taranicholle Book: "The Transformational Consumer: Fuel a Lifelong Love Affair with Your Customers by Helping Them Get Healthier, Wealthier, and Wiser" City Slicker Farms: www.cityslickerfarms.org

Digital marketing and online customer service are broken, and Jay Baer brings the repair kit. Jay has created five multi-million dollar companies and was recently inducted into the Word of Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame. He is the President of Convince & Convert, a consulting firm that helps the world’s most iconic brands like The United Nations, Nike, 3M, and Oracle use technology to gain an unfair competitive advantage. A New York Times best-selling author of five books, Jay is also the host of the acclaimed Social Pros podcast. His latest book Hug Your Haters is on Lee’s must read list for all marketers, communicators, and CEOs. He’s also an avid tequila collector and a certified barbecue judge.   “What has changed everything is that now customer service is a spectator sport. People can see if you’re good at customer service or not.” - Jay Baer What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why understanding your numbers doesn’t mean understanding your customers Jay’s incredible book “Hug Your Haters” Why actually responding is the most important part of customer service How social media has changed customer service Why customers who you solve problems for are more loyal than customers who never have any problems What hugging your haters looks like in today’s political landscape when customers are reacting to political moves by companies Why all of your channels are a customer service channels Why there’s no such thing as an isolated complaint Why marketing should control customer service Why you need to measure customer service satisfaction Why you need to listen harder to your customers Why you need to think about customer service as a way to make money Ways to contact Jay: Website: www.jaybaer.com Website: www.convinceandconvert.com Book: "Hug Your Haters" Course: KeepYourCustomersCourse.com

Renee Wilson is the president of the PR Council, the professional trade association for agencies practicing public relations, within the world of marketing and communications. The PR Council has 110+ members representing more than 11,000 employees in the US. PR Council advocates for and advances the business of communications firms by building the market and the value of firms as strategic business partners. Previously, Renee spent 11 years at MSLGROUP most recently as a member of the global board of directors; and the firm’s Chief Client Officer, responsible for liaison with senior clients and the agency’s international client engagement program, which she created. She is also the former President of MSLGROUP in North America. Renee was president of the 2014 PR jury for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and served on one other Cannes Jury in 2011. Renee spent four years living and working in London for another international PR consultancy. During this time she managed the EMEA communications for brands within Kellogg's and Johnson & Johnson. Renee is a regularly featured speaker at various international conferences and most recently presented at the United Nations International Women's Day Conference, SxSw Social Good Hub, 2015, ColorComm and espnW 2015. A Cannes lion award winner herself, Renee’s teams have won more than 25 awards for exceptional, breakthrough work. A long-standing proponent for diversity, she sits on the Advisory Board for the Young Women's Leadership Schools of NYC and is a member of the NY Women in Communications. She has guest lectured on international communications at NYU and Baruch.   “The credibility that comes with an output from a public relations campaign -- how do you put the value on that?” - Renee Wilson What you’ll learn about in this episode: What the PR Council does Why “PR” won’t be called “Public Relations” in a few years Why PR people have to be at the table to identify business problems Why PR and social are one in the same Why agencies have to look to the future Why digital storytelling is going to be so crucial going forward Why there’s no cheat sheet for lifelong learning What measurement looks like in PR today and why proving ROI is challenging Why agencies do more project based work than AOR work these days (and why you need to make sure your project is long enough) Ways to contact Renee: Website: prcouncil.net Email: rwilson@prcouncil.net Twitter: @ReneeW

With more than 20 years of experience in technology, SaaS, and B2B offerings, Jay Krishnan, Automile’s Vice President of Marketing, brings deep expertise in small business and enterprise marketing to the rapidly growing company. Prior to joining Automile, she led product marketing at fast-growing startups, accelerating growth and market leadership. She also drove go to market strategy for mobile and was an innovation catalyst during her tenure with Intuit. An accomplished change agent and thought leader, she speaks at several leading industry events on technology trends impacting different industries.   “Marketers often get too busy that they forget to carve out needed time with their customers.” - Jay Krishnan What you’ll learn about in this episode: Jay’s unique balance of marketing and technology How Automile’s fleet tracking service works What makes Automile’s hardware/SaaS blend so difficult Why everything at Automile is customer first Why startups and small companies shouldn’t forget that they can take risks big companies can’t Why startups have to narrow down their customer targets Why you need to think about both the purchaser experience and the user experience (and why these are often not the same thing) How to test different marketing efforts to figure out which one to put your resources into Ways to contact Jay: Website: www.automile.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jaykrishnan1 Twitter: @JayKrishnan

Described by Bella NYC Magazine as being passionate, energetic, and full of life, K2s founder and CEO, Heidi Krupp-Lisiten, is right at home in the world of marketing, promotion, and media. With over 25 years in the field, Heidi has become recognized as an industry leader who works closely with her clients to develop innovative 360-degree brand platforms designed to engage consumers, excite media, drive awareness, and most importantly, deliver quantifiable business outcomes. As the head of K2, Heidi provides multi-disciplined marketing solutions, including unique strategic PR programs, on behalf of globally recognized brands such as Weight Watchers, Ann Taylor, Gaiam, and Everyday Health. Notably, her recent work with Nerium International (the fastest growing direct sales company in the world) has helped them to achieve their U.S. goals and expand into other countries. After earning a Bachelor's degree in journalism and communications from Ohio University, Heidi moved on to play an integral role at ABC News 20/20, amassing an impressive string of production and publicity credits (including her first publicity credit for her work with Barbara Walters). It was while she was at ABC that she discovered her true calling as a PR professional and entrepreneur. This discovery led her to establish K2 in 1996. Heidi is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native who now resides in New York City with her husband, Darren, their son, Caden, and beloved dog, Isaac.   “You have to find a clever way in. You can’t just take no for an answer.” - Heidi Krupp-Lisiten What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Heidi got into PR and how she ended up doing “Chicken Soup for the Soul” Tactics Heidi uses today that she didn’t use when she started her firm The three strategy questions Heidi always asks Why if you can’t leverage it -- don’t do it Why you, your team, and your clients need to celebrate wins together Why you shouldn’t ever take business personally Why nothing is private anymore makes everything PR Why you need to get ahead of the conversation and anticipate everything that happens Why PR is all about strategy Why you shouldn’t necessarily spend all of the budgets that you have Ways to contact Heidi: Website: kruppkommunications.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/kruppkommunications Twitter: @KruppKomm LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company-beta/231046

Jen McClure is one of the original authorities on digital and social media. More than a decade ago, she anticipated the significant impact that these technologies would have on business, media, culture and society. This led her to cofound the Society for New Communications Research in 2005, a think tank focused on these technologies, which merged with The Conference Board in 2016. She now serves as a Program Director and Advisory Board Chair for The Conference Board. Jen is CEO of JEM Consulting & Advisory Services, a Silicon Valley-based consultancy dedicated to helping organizations gain competitive advantage through the use of digital and social media. Services include: digital transformation, strategy development, digital and social media audits and maturity assessments, digital due diligence for M&A, social selling and employee advocacy program development. Prior to founding JEM, she was VP of Digital & Social Media at Thomson Reuters, where she founded the company's Digital Center of Excellence and oversaw digital strategy, enablement and governance for web, mobile, social media, online communities, and search. She is on the Board of Directors of the Observer Publishing Company and Justice Gap. She is an advisor to two start-ups, Opera Event Company and PaperQuilt. She also served on the Customer Advisory Boards of Adobe and Nexgate/Proofpoint, the Social Media Advisory Council of the UN's Population Fund in 2011 and was an Advisory Board member of the Future Arts & Media Node of the Millennium Project from 2009-2010. Jen received her Bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and her Master’s degree from Stanford University.   “Understand the expansiveness of the power of social media. Social is not just a communications tool.” - Jen McClure  What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to organize teams around content, digital delivery, and marketing Why social media can serve a lot of different functions inside your organization Why it’s so crucial to align your metrics with your goals Why we’re really still in the infancy of social media and what changes are coming Why it’s more efficient to bring organic social in-house than to use an agency (and why an agency is helpful for paid social) Why social media management is about matrix management and not hierarchical Skillsets to hire for Why social media is the most powerful tool since email and the telephone and why its insights are even better Ways to contact Jen: Email: jen.mcclure@jem.consulting Twitter: @jenmcclure_JEM LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jenmcclure Website: www.jem.consulting

David Wisnom III is the founder & Chief Strategist of SightCast Inc., a brand strategy and marketing consultancy. David's background in developing brand strategies covers the spectrum of brands such as UCSF, Huntington Hospital, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Varian Medical Systems, Mechanics Bank, Wells Fargo Advisors, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola. David's accomplishments include co-authoring the book Before the Brand: Creating the Unique DNA of an Enduring Brand Identity, (published by McGraw-Hill) and most recently authoring “Rebranding the Corporate Enterprise: a Step-by-Step Guide.” Prior to founding SightCast Inc., David was Managing Director of the FutureBrand, a global strategic branding firm. David was also Executive Director of Landor Associates, the leading strategic branding firm in San Francisco and opened their Chicago office. David's current philanthropic work includes second term as past Board Chair of Community Gatepath, a 95+ year old nonprofit that provides essential services to children and adults with disabilities. Past roles include President of the Burlingame Soccer Club; Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the SMC Star Soccer Club; President of the Peninsula Civic Light Opera. David attended the Cate School and Willamette University. He spends his rare free time with his wife, two kids, and lab Macallan fly fishing, cycling, and cooking.   “If you’re not relevant to your target audience, it doesn’t matter how different you are.” - David Wisnom III What you’ll learn about in this episode: The biggest mistake people make in branding Why you need to get really clear on your audience Why a new logo is not going to fix your problems The four dimensions of a brand How to do the research needed to understand your audience Why you need to involve nonprofit boards in rebranding efforts What “point zero” looks like in a rebranding effort Why a rebrand has to provide clarity for customers first and then your team Why you should use resources differently depending on the situation Ways to contact David: Website: www.sightcastinc.com Twitter: @sightcastinc LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wisnombrandguru Resources: Book: "Before the Brand: Creating the Unique DNA of an Enduring Brand Identity" Customer Journey: www.sightcastinc.com/seminars.html Concentric Circles Download: www.sightcastinc.com/diy-tools.html

It may be an overused word but Mimi is truly passionate about helping create truly outstanding workplaces. Throughout her career, she has taken many business and personality assessments. With very few exceptions she weighs heavily towards creativity plus organization a combination that is highly unique she's been told. Due to this combination of strengths, she's had a very well-rounded background and experienced success as a strategist, a creative problem solver, a designer, a writer, a leader and a consultant. She’s worked in marketing, public relations, events, brand reputation, internal communications, design, corporate social responsibility, and executive communications. She’s worked for HR, Marketing and even once for Legal! Mimi is currently a Senior Partner at her consulting firm, Streamline Communications, in the San Francisco Bay area, that specializes in internal communication and graphic design.   “It's absolutely no fun to implement a bad idea.” - Mimi Garrity Denman What you’ll learn about in this episode: Mimi’s passion for creating a great workplace Why communication has to be two-way to work Why your internal communication has to be just as creative as external communication Why internal communications belongs in the communication department, not in HR Why every company needs an internal communications department from the very beginning How tools like Slack and Yammer are great for internal communications Why internal communication needs to be multichannel -- just like external communications Why internal communications people must have well-rounded skill sets How to effectively plan out your internal communications Ways to contact Mimi: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mimigdenman Website: streamlinecommunications.biz Resources: Slack: slack.com Yammer: www.yammer.com

Kevin Craine is a professional writer and editor, an internationally respected business analyst, and an award-winning podcast producer. Kevin's podcasts have been heard around the world, including the award-winning "Everyday-MBA.com" where he interviews best-selling authors about success tips and techniques that you don't learn in business school. He is the host and producer of "Bizcast" on C-Suite Radio and his interviews feature today's best thought leaders. He is the producer behind podcasts for Epson, Canon, IBM and Kelly Services, among others. Kevin has also been the written voice for some of North America's leading brands like IBM, Kodak and Intel, along with a long list of individuals and start-ups from a wide variety of industries.   “Good writing is good business.” - Kevin Craine What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why strong writing is a skill that students need to focus on more than ever Mistakes companies make when they hire writers and content developers Why you must get clear about the purpose and audience of your message The seven characteristics for knowledge leadership content How to use podcasting very effectively and blend it into your bigger plan Setting your podcasting expectations correctly How to deliver scripted content in a way that doesn’t sound scripted Podcasts that Kevin loves How to learn from other podcasts Ways to contact Kevin: Website: crainegroup.com Podcast: everyday-mba.com Podcast: Fresh Air

In spite of starting her career in accounting, failing IBM’s entry level sales exam, being given a territory that had never bought anything, and being told she couldn't sell without an engineering background, Kendra Lee entered the sales profession and proved those naysayers wrong. She turned her knowledge of numbers into her own approach to lead generation taking her to the top 1% of sales professionals in each IT company she sold for. She founded KLA Group, a sales and marketing agency, to consult, train and Do it For You so others, too, could beat the odds in sales and marketing and get more customers. Under Kendra’s direction, her organization has assisted entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, marketers, and salespeople for over 20 years in penetrating SMB markets in just 12 weeks, increasing referrals more than 328% in just 7 weeks, and multiplying new client acquisition more than 31% year over year. Kendra is the author of the award-winning books “The Sales Magnet” and “Selling Against the Goal.”   “Marketing can only go so far. At some point, a salesperson still has to pick up the phone.” - Kendra Lee What you’ll learn about in this episode: The relationship between sales and marketing Why companies with strong marketing don’t have to spend as much sales time on prospecting How to successfully nurture leads while using tools like CRM systems Why anyone can learn to sell -- and Kendra’s tips for learning to sell The role of introverts and extroverts in sales and marketing Why marketing can only go so far Why you need to have salespeople involved in marketing campaigns How to maximize your resources and grow marketing dollars to have more to spend on bigger projects KLA’s Recognition ROI infographic Ways to contact Kendra: Website: www.klagroup.com Twitter: @KendraLeeKLA Resources: “What’s Your Recognition ROI?” Infographic

Libby leads the client services team at IDMLOCO, a digital strategy agency at the intersection of public affairs and marketing. With more than ten years of digital agency experience, Libby understands not just how to develop and implement successful campaigns, but also how to deliver exceptional communication and service to her clients. A native Midwesterner, Libby has previously built and led digital agency teams for Campbell Mithun, AdFarm, and Flint Group, where her work for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota earned a PRSA Silver Anvil. In 2012, Libby developed and taught the first class on social media for professional communicators at Minnesota State University - Moorhead.   “Dedicate at least 10% of staff time to learning, R&D, and development because that makes your processes, ideas for clients, and everything else that you do stronger.” - Libby Hall What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to figure out what kind of website is right for you or your clients Using your website budget and putting enough money into the top of the funnel so that people actually get to your website How to serve all the different audiences your website needs to serve Why big companies should use the kinds of tools that small entrepreneurs use like ClickFunnels, Leadpages, Wordpress templates, etc. Figuring out what the first action you want people to take is and filling your funnel with those people Why you need to segment your lists when you test out lead sources like Facebook ads Why you need to spend money on both running a program and measuring that program Ways to contact Libby: Website: idmlo.co Twitter: @idmloco Twitter: @libbyjuju Resources: ClickFunnels Leadpages

Today we’re going to talk about #Hashtags. How do you use them -- and how do you use them well?   “Make sure you know what your hashtag means before you use it.” - Lee Caraher What you’ll learn about in this episode: Where the hashtag came from How to use hashtags to get into the flow of a conversation How to create a great hashtag Why you need to know the hashtag rules for each platform How to make sure your hashtag means what you think it means Making sure the hashtags you use match the kind of content you produce Why you should never “hashtag spam” How many hashtags are acceptable per social media platform Tools you can use for hashtag research Why hashtags on Instagram are different than on Twitter Resources: How to Use #Hashtags for Marketers The Ultimate Guide to Using Instagram Hashtags

So many books, so little time! We’ve taken the guesswork away by highlighting the best books you need to read this quarter.   “Each of these books has five nuggets that you can apply to your programs today that can help you have better results by next quarter.” - Lee Caraher What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why you and your team should read books together “Pre-Suasion” Robert Cialdini’s book about why the moment before you deliver your message is so crucial “Influence” Robert Cialdini’s essential book about how to get people to say yes "Google Analytics Breakthrough" Feras Alhlou, Shiraz Asif, & Eric Fettman’s book that covers everything you need to know about Google Analytics “Hug Your Haters” Jay Baer’s book about why you will learn so much from people who complain (and the negative cost ignoring them has) “Contagious” Jonah Berger’s book about the difference between content that goes viral and content that doesn’t Resources: "Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade" by Robert Cialdini "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini "Google Analytics Breakthrough: From Zero to Business Impact" by Feras Alhlou, Shiraz Asif, & Eric Fettman "Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers" by Jay Baer "Contagious: Why Things Catch On" by Jonah Berger

Julie developed Saison Beauty to bring together her passion for luxurious skin care treatments, eco health-friendly products, and holistic health. Prior to launching Saison, Julie spent 20 years as a global brand marketing and e-commerce executive at leading companies across several industries including beauty and skincare, retail, fashion, food and beverage, and consumer electronics. Most recently Julie was the marketing director for Gap Online International, overseeing the marketing of the Gap Europe, Gap Japan, and Banana Republic Europe e-commerce sites. While at Gap Inc., Julie also worked for the Gap Inc. Direct Marketing Strategy and Old Navy Online divisions. Julie also worked with a number of other global brands and companies including Shu Uemura, Aveda, The Body Shop, Elle Magazine Interactive, Cosmopolitan Magazine Interactive, Fox Interactive (The Simpsons, Die Hard, The X-Files), Mattel Interactive (Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox), Peet's Coffee & Tea, Hitachi Home Electronics and NEC Electronics.   “Whatever is the easiest to execute that is going to give me the highest result, that’s where I tend to lean my focus on.” - Julie Kim What you’ll learn about in this episode: Saison: Julie’s company that she started to educate people about seasonal skin care Why understanding your customer is crucial (especially when you’re working with limited resources) Informing content marketing strategy through SEO research Google Trends: how to use this fantastic tool to find the top queries for your niche keywords How to create content that matches top trends Google Data Studio: a new tool from Google that Julie has been utilizing for tracking data How to figure out what social media platforms to focus on and why you must cater to them individually Why you should focus on high-impact, low-effort projects when you can Why you should leverage and lean on your community Ways to contact Julie: Website: www.saisonbeauty.com Instagram: @saisonbeauty Twitter: @SaisonBeauty Facebook: www.facebook.com/saisonbeauty Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/saisonbeauty Resources: Google Trends Google Data Studio

Kristen Ruby is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, a full-service Public Relations and Social Media Agency in Manhattan. Ruby is one of the preeminent social media experts in America. Ruby is a pioneer in the world of social media and tech trends and is a frequent on-air contributor to FOX Business, Good Morning America and countless other networks. Kris was chosen by the Business Council of Westchester as the youngest “40 Under 40″ Rising Stars. Most recently, Ruby has been featured on Bravo as “one of the pre-eminent social media experts in the field.” For more information or to book Kris Ruby for a segment, visit www.krisruby.com.   “You should hire a PR person if you really want someone to package your brand properly and get you out there.” - Kristen Ruby What you’ll learn about in this episode: Kristen’s article “Top 10 Signs You Shouldn’t Hire a Publicist” Why a publicist cannot get you instant, overnight results Why you shouldn’t hire a publicist if you don’t want to do any work Why you need to dedicate the time to do the thinking required for thought leadership Some of the unrealistic expectations placed on outsourced PR that isn’t placed on in-house PR Why you shouldn’t do PR because you want to be famous Why a good PR person cannot accept money for a story they know won’t get place Why PR cannot solve inherent business issues Why you have to be willing to drop everything when the journalist is ready Reasons that you should hire a PR person Ways to contact Kristen: Agency website: rubymediagroup.com Personal website: www.krisruby.com Twitter: @sparklingruby Instagram: @krisruby Twitter: @rubymediagroup Instagram: @rubymediagroup LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/krisruby Resources: Top 10 Signs You Shouldn’t Hire a Publicist, Kristen’s article for Observer

In our final episode of February, we look back at some of the best social media and storytelling lessons we learned this month from Heather Hawkins, Liz O'Donnell, and host Lee Caraher’s solocast about activism.   “When your business and your message do not line up, you’re at risk. It’s marketing’s job to make them line up.” - Lee Caraher What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why you need to start telling your story (Heather Hawkins) How to start telling your story if you’ve never done it (Heather Hawkins) Why you have to get so good at telling your story that telling it becomes second nature (Heather Hawkins) Why your story must be told from an authentic place (Heather Hawkins) Don’t be tone deaf: why you can’t post “normal” content during inappropriate times and why you must turn social off when something hits (Liz O’Donnell) How to use Twitter Moments and Trending Topics to stay on top of current events on social (Liz O’Donnell) Why you need to up your social game (Liz O’Donnell) Listening to what others are saying on social media (Liz O’Donnell) FACE: why frequency, authenticity, consistency, and engagement are the key to building trust (Liz O’Donnell) Why you need to be able to walk the walk with your activism (Lee Caraher) Why you need to fully flesh out your company’s point of view (Lee Caraher) Why you need the infrastructure to manage the result of becoming an activist company (Lee Caraher) Why you need to prepare your social media before you take the activist plunge (Lee Caraher) Why you must thank the supporters of you and your activism (Lee Caraher) Why there’s no turning back once you get into the activist arena and what your future will look like once you take the plunge (Lee Caraher) Full interviews: Heather Hawkins Liz O’Donnell Lee Caraher Ways to contact Heather: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/heatherhawkins Instagram: @elevation_strategy Email: heather@elevation-strategy.com Ways to contact Liz: Email: lodonnell@double-forte.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz3point0 Website: www.double-forte.com Twitter: @LizODTweets

Heather helps companies in the wellness and outdoor industries elevate their brand message to increase the positive impact they have on their consumers and communities. She believes a thoughtful communication program is about more than just volume, it's about identifying who matters most to your company in order to reach them in an authentic way. With an ever-expanding arsenal of earned, owned and paid communication tools, it's more important than ever to match the right consumer to the right channel and the right message for the past two-plus decades, she's been doing just that for consumer brands including CLIF Bar, Camelbak, Sega of America, Bell Helmets, Sony Computer Entertainment, Maroon 5 and more. She’d love to hear how she can help you, too. Away from her laptop, she's an endurance junkie who lives and breathes the wellness and outdoor lifestyle-- trail ultras, road marathons, triathlons, Mudders and more. If it sounds like a miserable way to spend a Sunday morning to most sane people, it's probably right up her alley. She’s also a lifelong learner, certified personal trainer and fitness nutrition coach who loves to geek out on the finer points of sports nutrition and physiology.   “Focus on one thing and see what the results are before moving on to the next thing. Otherwise, how do you know what moved the needle for you?” - Heather Hawkins What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why an authentic founding story is a great marketing tool, how to tell a great one, and what you should focus on if you don’t have that founding story Why you need to work on telling your story until you can tell it naturally Why authenticity is key in telling your story How to educate your consumers about what you do well and not have it feel self-serving Why it’s okay to adapt the way your company does business when new research comes out Why you should focus on one initiative at a time Ways to contact Heather: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/heatherhawkins Instagram: @elevation_strategy Email: heather@elevation-strategy.com Resources: San Francisco Chronicle article featuring Heather: SF housing shortage leaves little room for families

Activism is the new black for brands in 2017. What does this mean for you?   “Walk the Walk. Don’t profess a point of view that your company can not back up with policy or facts.” - Lee Caraher What you’ll learn about in this episode: The increase of company activism under President Trump The Super Bowl ads that were politically charged and presented the points of view of different brands Why activism is a business decision that brands are making and the financial consequences those decisions are having, positive and negative Why you have to be able to back up what you’re advocating for Why consumers will look behind the curtain and why this matters Why you need to fully articulate your point of view Why you need to make sure your web team is ready for the outcomes of your activism Why you must thank your supporters What you have to think about for the future after entering into the activism arena Resources: Forbes article: 'Daughter' Super Bowl Ad Drives Audi Directly Into Social Values Statement, Away From Humor The Guardian article: Sex doesn’t sell any more, activism does. And don’t the big brands know it The Huffington Post article: Sure, The Audi Ad Was Sweet, But Very Few Women Actually Work There Tech NYC article: Why We Wrote to President Trump Forbes article: Nearly 100 Tech Companies Join Forces In Court To Oppose Donald Trump's Immigration Ban The Verge article: The Super Bowl's best ads got political, intentionally or not Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtBZvl7dIu4 84 Lumber Super Bowl Commercial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPo2B-vjZ28

We liked her so much we kept talking! Liz O’Donnell is Double Forte’s Chief Content Officer, responsible for the firm’s and its client’s digital marketing and social media strategies. She blogs regularly for the agency on the dynamic world of social media, digital communication and being heard in a very loud world. Liz is the author of Mogul, Mom & Maid: The Balancing Act of the Modern Woman, a book that picks up where other business books leave off – understanding the impact women’s personal lives have on their careers and the ways business can support working women. Her website WorkingDaughter.com supports women who are balancing caring for an aging parent and their career. She is a frequent speaker and consultant to women who want to thrive and the organizations that want to reach and mobilize women. Active in her community, Liz is a member of her town’s warrant and finance committee and co-founded Women in Democracy, a non-partisan organization that encourages women to run for local office.   “Instagram is not Insta-gram anymore. Instagram is a portfolio of the best stuff.” - Liz O'Donnell What you’ll learn about in this episode: Liz’s 7 New Year's resolutions for communication in 2017 Posting with intention: figuring out your cornerstone messages Being spontaneous and relevant on social Leveraging your great content How to earn trust through engagement Why you must do live video Why you need to figure out how to have fun with social media Twitter auto DM’s: why you need to stop doing them Why you have to keep an eye on your analytics Why you need to have a podcast -- or at least be a guest on podcasts Why you need to cut down on the business speak Automation tools: why you can’t do all of your social media manually Why you should blog less in 2017 Tips for making the most of LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat Ways to contact Liz: Email: lodonnell@double-forte.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz3point0 Website: www.double-forte.com Twitter: @LizODTweets Resources: Liz’s blog “7 New Year’s Resolutions”: double-forte.com/7-new-years-resolutions Liz’s blog “7 PR and Social Media Habits to Leave Behind in 2016”: double-forte.com/7-pr-and-social-media-habits-to-leave-in-2016 Meet Edgar: meetedgar.com Podcast Interview Booker: Interview connections -- www.interviewconnections.com Podcast producer: Predictive ROI -- www.predictiveROI.com

Liz O’Donnell is Double Forte’s Chief Content Officer, responsible for the firm’s and its client’s digital marketing and social media strategies. She blogs regularly for the agency on the dynamic world of social media, digital communication and being heard in a very loud world. Liz is the author of Mogul, Mom & Maid: The Balancing Act of the Modern Woman, a book that picks up where other business books leave off – understanding the impact women’s personal lives have on their careers and the ways business can support working women. Her website WorkingDaughter.com supports women who are balancing caring for an aging parent and their career. She is a frequent speaker and consultant to women who want to thrive and the organizations that want to reach and mobilize women. Active in her community, Liz is a member of her town’s warrant and finance committee and co-founded Women in Democracy, a non-partisan organization that encourages women to run for local office.   “If you’re going to do communications the way that you did them in the past, you might as well whisper.” - Liz O'Donnell What you’ll learn about in this episode: How President Trump has changed everything with Twitter Don’t be tone deaf: why you can’t post “normal” content during inappropriate times and why you must turn social off when something hits Why you need to be tuned into Twitter Moments and Trending Topics Why now is the best time to up your social game FACE: why frequency, authenticity, consistency, and engagement are the key to building trust Platforms vs. third party tools: what should you be using to judge trends What to give interns -- and what to not give them Why you need to be really careful when you try to bring in humor When to play it safe -- and when playing it safe is the wrong move How to choose your social media platform Ways to contact Liz: Email: lodonnell@double-forte.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz3point0 Website: www.double-forte.com Twitter: @LizODTweets Resources: Liz’s Blog “The President Tweeted Again”: double-forte.com/the-president-tweeted-again 7 Twitter Habits to Develop Now: double-forte.com/7-twitter-habits-you-should-develop-now

Doris Hobbs is an accomplished, published writer, marketing and media consultant with a successful history of leading her clients to deliver business results and sale solutions. Doris understands all aspects of today’s complex media and marketing landscape given her 10+ years of experience across traditional and digital publication platforms, integrated media with a digital focus, publishing and social media marketing. Doris is recognized around the world for helping luxury brands get published in magazines, elevating social media presence, where she provides modeling, product placement, brand marketing, skilled writing, and professional photography. Her past clients have obtained multiple pages within a number of premier magazine publications which have included cover exposure, exclusive profile interviews and profitable media campaigns. She writes and models on topics of business, branding, fashion news, and style trends for a number of publications, not to mention, her own website at www.richinlovefashion.com.   “If you’re not being authentic, it’s going to show.” - Doris Hobbs What you’ll learn about in this episode: What makes the luxury category different from other brands How Doris helps her luxury brand clients set the right price point Why authenticity is the #1 most important thing for any brand Why you need great photography on your Instagram feed Why you can’t do social media on the fly How to use one project to launch another one (and why this is the best way to maximize limited resources) Why -- if she could do anything -- Doris would expand her business into motivational speaking Doris’ Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis and how she didn’t allow it to control her Why you need to keep the 5-by-5 rule close to you (if it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t give it 5 minutes of your time) Doris’ cross media marketing strategy that gives her clients the most bang for their buck Ways to contact Doris: Website: www.richinlovefashion.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/doris-hobbs-530a2780 Instagram: @richinlovefashion

In our final episode of January, we look back at some of the best lessons we learned this month from Ian Garlic, Sarah Anderson, and Dave Karraker.   “When is the last time you went on Twitter and just listened to what your customers are saying about your brand?” - Lee Caraher What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why listening is the biggest skill that you can teach your team The campaign Lee created just by listening to her customers at SEGA that had more traction than SEGA’s competitors without creating a new product Why you need to tell the right story at the right time (Ian Garlic) Collecting your customers’ stories (Ian Garlic) Why you can’t assume your audience is who they’ve been in the past (Sarah Anderson) Using your intuition when working with data (Sarah Anderson) Why you shouldn’t take no for an answer and should just negotiate until you get what you want (Sarah Anderson) Listening with your eyes and paying attention to how people are interacting with your product (Dave Karraker) Full interviews: Ian Garlic Sarah Anderson Dave Karraker Ways to contact Ian Garlic: Website: iangarlic.com Must read books: iangarlic.com/influential-books Free Customers Stories Download: iangarlic.com/forte LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/iangarlic Twitter: @iangarlic Ways to contact Sarah Anderson: Website: www.2k.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarahstcanderson Twitter: @2K Ways to contact Dave Karraker: Twitter: @DaveKarraker LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dave-karraker-30ab913 Twitter: @CampariAmerica Facebook: www.facebook.com/CampariAmerica LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/3744129

Lizz approaches life as she approaches every challenge, as an opportunity to be awesome and she delivers on this Sequence core value every time. As Chief Creative Officer and founder, Lizz brings her deep passion for creativity and hospitality to Team SEQ. Multi-talented with an aesthetic eye, you’ll find Lizz ensuring flawless execution, beauty and unparalleled customer service at every turn. Whether gracing the cover of Meetings & Conventions Magazine or speaking on the finer points of Creating a Run of Show for the Event Leadership Institute, Lizz is often called on to share her perspective and wisdom delivered directly with a dose of fierce wit and signature sarcasm. As a young leader in the industry, Lizz rapidly rose through the ranks at international events agency Global Events before moving on to develop her own brand of big-meets-boutique agency by founding Sequence. Lizz has dazzled clients at USA TODAY Sports, Moët Hennesy, StarKist, The Travel Channel, Toy Industry Association, Women’s Bond Club, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, and The Wharton School. Lizz resides in Sunnyside with her sweet baby Rosemary (aka Rosie J. Boo Bear), awesome husband (Pat, aka John), and turtle (Igor, Queen of the Red Eared Sliders). “If it was all about data, then IBM’s Watson would be running all of our marketing. It’s not, and it requires judgment.” - Linda Popky What you’ll learn about in this episode: Social media and live events: how the two are different yet work well together Keeping people engaged during live events The biggest mistake people make with live events Why you must give people something unique What makes an event a success Why you must always do dry runs How Lizz would take limited resources to make more happen Ways to contact Lizz: Website: sequence-events.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lizz-torgovnick-06432015

Buckley Barlow works with forward-thinking organizations, teams, executives, and investors to meet growth goals: increasing sales and revenues, improving customer retention and repeat visit rates, reducing shopping cart abandonment, streamlining sales processes, and other strategic and tactical initiatives across the digital growth marketing spectrum. His growth models syncs product, engineering, data, growth, marketing, and sales divisions to drive sustainable growth. He owned (and later sold) two full-stack marketing agencies which handled startups and Fortune 500 companies, with customized solutions for every client. In addition, he has built and sold ventures in the medical, SaaS, software, technology, marketing, web, media, and consumer product industries. Buckley was an early growth team member of an Inc. 500 company, which he helped grow over 100,000% (from $51k in revenues to over $60mm) in a few short years before being recruited as COO of a publicly traded sports management company. For the last decade, he has consulted with various Private Equity Groups (PEGs) and emerging growth companies. He handles sensitive and confidential information on a daily basis, and is well-versed in the communication protocols and compliance issues relevant to publicly-traded companies. In addition, Buckley blogs at In The Know, a learning path hub for forward-thinking organizations and teams, and my content often ranks #1 on Google. He is the author of “The Growth Code: The Key to Unlocking Growth in any Modern Business.”   “Omnichannel is where everything is blended. It’s this amazing experience.” - Buckley Barlow What you’ll learn about in this episode: What growth really means How to do the press release so it works today Why you need to niche and segment your marketing Blending outbound and inbound marketing Why entrepreneurs have a leg up on brands when it comes to jumping onto new platforms Using customer-centric data and why you need to use psychographic data if you want to understand the full story How mobile devices blend online and offline activity Omnichannel marketing: why every part of a brand must come together to form a cohesive whole Why processes need to change for Omnichannel to work Why you can’t teach strategy Ways to contact Buckley: Website: www.rocketsource.co Website: beintheknow.co Book: “The Growth Code: The Key to Unlocking Growth in any Modern Business”

Linda is the founder and president of Leverage2Market® Associates, Inc., a strategic marketing company that helps organizations transform their business through marketing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters (Bibliomotion, March 2015). If it relates to marketing, Linda has done it. Her expertise includes corporate marketing, communications and messaging, marketing team development, facilitation, sales training and support, partner and channel programs, market sizing and intelligence, field marketing, marketing operations, industry/market development, and product marketing. She has architected leading edge customer loyalty and retention programs with a focus on improved business efficiency, customer advocacy, and quality and has a reputation for strong leadership and team management, as well as strategic program development and delivery skills. Linda has an MBA and a BS in Communications from Boston University. Her work with business process improvement includes a study mission to Japan on Employee/Customer Loyalty. She served as a charter member of the Conference Board Council on Customer Strategy, and was a member of the Council on E-Business Strategy.   “If it was all about data, then IBM’s Watson would be running all of our marketing. It’s not, and it requires judgment.” - Linda Popky What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why you shouldn’t try to target everyone How to find your market by narrowing by behavior rather than demographics Why it doesn’t need to be perfect Learning what makes marketing different in different countries Focusing on the thing that will move your business forward a mile instead of the five things that will move it forward an inch each Why marketing isn’t all about the data Why the hard work comes after the launch, not before Books that Linda recommends How to stay on top of the innovations that you need to pay attention to and how to know what to ignore Ways to contact Linda: Website: www.leverage2market.com Twitter: @lpopky Resources: "Presuasion" by Robert Cialdini, PhD "Marketing Above the Noise" by Linda Popky

A 25-year-veteran of the interactive entertainment industry, Sarah Anderson joined 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive, in May 2005. As the Senior Vice President of Marketing she leads global Marketing and Communications efforts for 2K. Under her leadership, the 2K team has published some of today's biggest games and established franchises, including critically acclaimed titles from the Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, Civilization, Evolve, Mafia, NBA 2K, WWE 2K and XCOM series. Sarah has applied her understanding of the audience and quest for innovative marketing techniques that deliver results, to the marketing and communications of hundreds of games. Sarah has a BFA in graphic design from Paier College of Art and an MBA in marketing from the Graduate School of Management at the University of San Francisco. In her spare time, she might be found enjoying the Bay Area's live music scene, taking a bootcamp class or being a lacrosse mom.   “We don’t take no for an answer. If we want to do something, we figure it out.” - Sarah Anderson What you’ll learn about in this episode: What 2K does and what Sarah does at 2K What 2K’s audience looks like The rise of the female gaming audience Figuring out the flows of different audiences Looking at behavior vs. demographics Finding influencers to grow your brand How 2K’s “scrappy lean team” utilizes the different channels available to them Balancing data and gut instinct Why you shouldn’t take no for an answer Ways to contact Sarah: Website: www.2k.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarahstcanderson Twitter: @2K

Ian Garlic brings over 15 years of inbound marketing experience, deep knowledge of commerce and understanding of current market trends. With the ability to capitalize all of your current assets and come up with countless quality ideas for your online marketing, Ian is a prime mentor for upcoming marketing gurus. Currently, Ian is the CEO of authenticWEB, a multi-talented online agency based Orlando, FL. His team works daily on exquisite website designs, innovative marketing strategies, outstanding video production and top rated search engine optimization. “If people only marketed with their customers’ stories, they would have brilliant businesses that no one could take away.” – Ian Garlic What you’ll learn about in this episode: Identifying your ideal customer Key performance indicators: how to use KPI to keep yourself on track What good SEO looks like How to use limited resources to their full potential Why you need to be ready to pivot Ian’s must read books for business and marketing Why you need to start collecting your customers’ stories Ways to contact Ian: Website: iangarlic.com Must read books: iangarlic.com/influential-books Free Customers Stories Download: iangarlic.com/forte

In his role at the US division of Gruppo Campari, the world’s sixth-largest premium wine and spirits company, Dave’s days are focused on creating consumer relationships through engagement, sharing, conversation, and education all of which leads to advocacy. His duties cover influencer relations, public relations, social media, events, licensing, philanthropy, partnerships, and celebrity marketing. Campari America’s 30+ brand portfolio features SKYY Vodka, Wild Turkey, Grand Marnier, Cinzano, Aperol, and, of course, Campari. Dave has more than two decades of marketing and communications experience working on some of the world’s most engaging brands, including Sony, Virgin, Martha Stewart, Stoli, Makers Mark, Microsoft, Kmart, and Sega. A former television reporter for NBC and CBS, his most humiliating moment came from his appearance on Wheel of Fortune (he didn’t win). What you’ll learn about in this episode: Dave’s career story Why Dave and Campari America threw out their standard marketing and started embracing their bitter drinks Amplify and Reward: Dave’s strategy for promoting people that promote Campari America Negroni Week: Campari America’s week-long national charity event Making sure your advocates are really advocates and not just fans How to turn fans into advocates Why price doesn’t build equity Why you need to spend time on your social channels every morning Listening to what your audience wants from you Why you should put your resources into the best thing Ways to contact Dave: Twitter: @DaveKarraker LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dave-karraker-30ab913 Twitter: @CampariAmerica Facebook: www.facebook.com/CampariAmerica LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/3744129

Jason Swenk is a sought-after advisor who guides marketing agencies through a proven framework for increasing their business. Fresh out of college Jason was off to work for Arthur Anderson. He quickly realized that it was not a good fit. Although it was not part of the plan, he decided to change direction, quit his day job and launch a digital agency that quickly grew to a multi-million dollar operation working with brands such as AT&T, Hitachi and Lotus Cars. After 12 years of steady growth, they caught the attention of bigger agencies and sold the agency in 2012. Now, Jason leads JasonSwenk.com, a unique consultancy helping marketing agencies start, scale, enjoy, and sell their digital agencies by applying the exact proven formula he used. Jason generously shares it all as a frequent guest on popular radio and podcast shows. He has been featured as an expert in top media publications such as Entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine. Plus, he currently hosts two podcasts that are available for download and subscription on iTunes: The Smart Agency Master Class Podcast, dedicated to providing tactics and strategies to agency owners and decision makers that cut through the BS, focus on exactly what works and what doesn’t. The #AskSwenk Show, a live broadcast with questions and rapid-fire answers about agencies, marketing, entrepreneurship and business based on a lifetime of building successful, multi-million dollar companies. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why — if you’re positioning your agency as the superstar — you are doing it wrong Why — if you don’t have enough time — you’re not charging enough Why you shouldn’t do an RFP unless you write it Knowing where you’re going (and why it’s so important that your employees do as well) Positioning your agency with the right story Learning to offer your product or services in the right order Prospecting strategies (inbound, outbound, and strategic partnerships) Sales systems Systemizing the delivery of your products and services Systems for operating your business Strategies for being an effective leader The big difference the very successful agencies and the rest of them Why you need to give things away for free Why you can’t ever believe you’ve figured it out Why you don’t have to be first Why Facebook is the most powerful networking tool out there Ways to contact Jason: Website: jasonswenk.com/wahoo

Recently named Master of Innovation by Chase Bank and Fortune magazine, bestselling leadership and innovation speaker Scott Steinberg is one of the world’s most celebrated business speakers, futurists, and strategic innovation consultants, as seen in 600+ outlets from CNN to TIME and The Wall St. Journal. The author of Millennial Marketing: Bridging the Generation Gap and Make Change Work for You: 10 Ways to Future-Proof Yourself, Fearlessly Innovate and Succeed Despite Uncertainty, the Fortune 500 calls him a “defining figure in business and technology” and “top trendsetter to follow.” As the CEO of management consulting and market research firm FutureProof Strategies, he helps clients of all sizes better understand emerging innovations and trends, and cultivate competitive advantage on the back of them. An award-winning provider of keynote speeches, workshops and seminars for Fortune 500 businesses, non-profits, associations and educational institutes, he’s partnered with many leading organizations to deliver game-changing leadership, education, and change management programs. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Mistakes people make working with and marketing to Millennials How to hone in the Millennial tribe that you want to target How to conduct A/B testing with targeting batches of Millennials Why you need to have alternate ideas ready for when messages don’t resonate Why your message needs to work across devices – and be tailored for different platforms How Gen Z is different from Millennials and what that means for the future Why you need “experts” (these aren’t usually the people who have been in marketing the longest) How to stay on top of every place your audience lives Using your brain to cleverly spread your resources to the max Why Millennials connect with stories Why to connect with Millennials, you have to actually talk to Millennials (yes, this actually happens) Ways to contact Scott: Website: akeynotespeaker.com Book: makechangeworkforyou.com

In our final episode of 2016, we look back at some of the best lessons learned from Marketing experts KQED’s Michael Lupetin, Evernote’s Greg Chiemingo, and PayPal’s Janet Ball. We also share a big announcement for how this podcast will be changing in 2017 so that we’ll be able to bring you much more valuable content. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why most companies don’t actually put their audience first — and why they absolutely should (Michael Lupetin) The 10 levels of audience engagement (Michael Lupetin) Why you need to make a decision where to put your resources and why it’s okay if that decision doesn’t work out (Greg Chiemingo) Why have to take enough time to figure out if you plan is working or not (Greg Chiemingo) Why you need to listen to what your customers are telling you that they want (Janet Ball) Why you can’t mistake intuition for marketing (Janet Ball) Full interviews: Michael Lupetin Greg Chiemingo Janet Ball Ways to contact Michael Lupetin: Website: www.KQED.org LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaellupetin Twitter: @kqed Ways to contact Greg Chiemingo: Website: www.evernote.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gchiemingo Twitter: @gchiemingo Ways to contact Janet Ball: Website: www.paypal.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/janetball Twitter: @PayPal

This week we sharpen the saw with a few golden nuggets from InterviewConnections.com’s Jessica Rhodes’ interview. We also focus on why it’s so important to spend time doing things you love. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The value of podcasting Why you don’t need to have a big audience for your podcast to be successful Different kinds of goals you can have with your podcast My goal for this podcast Why it’s so important to stick with your podcast after starting it Finding a hobby that you love Some hobby ideas if you’re struggling to think of them “Writing That Works; How to Communicate Effectively In Business Resources: Website: InterviewConnections.com Website: www.jessicarhodes.biz Webinars: www.jessicarhodes.biz/webinar Book: “Writing That Works; How to Communicate Effectively In Business” by Kenneth Roman & Joel Raphaelson

Jessica Rhodes is the founder and CEO of InterviewConnections.com, the premier Guest Booking agency for podcasters and guest experts, and she is the acclaimed author of RockThePodcast From Both Sides of the Mic! Jessica is also the host of Interview Connections TV, where each week she helps her viewers rock the podcast from both sides of the mic. She hosts/co-hosts three podcasts: Rhodes to Success, The Podcast Producers and The Parenting Rhodes. The Podcast Producers was selected by Apple as a How to Podcast show in iTunes and has also been included in the syllabus for a course about podcasting and audio journalism at Western University in Ontario, Canada. Jessica is has been a speaker at Podcast Movement, Podfest.us and Dream Business Academy. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two kids. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why you should start a podcast The steps you need to take to get a podcast started Why anyone in your company can be your podcast’s host — even an intern — if they have the right voice for it The equipment and software you need to host a podcast (and what you really don’t) Why downloads aren’t the best barometer of success Why you should interview your current clients (and where to find other guests) What makes the content of a podcast great Why marketing is the key to growing your audience Why you don’t have to make your podcast your entire business to achieve success Jessica’s three podcasts How Jessica helps her clients get booked on podcasts Ways to contact Jessica: Website: InterviewConnections.com Website: www.jessicarhodes.biz Webinars: www.jessicarhodes.biz/webinar Resources: LinkedIn article by Jessica: www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-market-your-podcast-grow-audience-jessica-rhodes Podcast: Rhodes to Success Podcast: The Podcast Producers Podcast: The Parenting Rhodes

This week we sharpen the saw with a few golden nuggets from EAT Creative Studio’s Renata Amaral’s interview. We also focus on why it’s so important to take your vacation. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why you can’t create a real brand until you know who you are Your logo is not your brand Why your logo may need to change as your company DNA changes Why you need to examine your brand every year or two Bringing your brand to life with art Taking a break with vacation Why I took many months off a few years ago Book recommendation: “Leadership and the Art of Conversation: Conversation as a Management Tool” by Kim H. Krisco Resources: Website: www.weareeat.com Book: “Leadership and the Art of Conversation: Conversation as a Management Tool” by Kim H. Krisco