Marketers know it’s the connections we make - between ideas, people, and brands - that make all the difference. Each week, Happy Marketer Connection invites you to connect with Sue Frech, Martech pioneer and unfailing optimist, as she and her fellow passionate marketers explore engaging and inventive marketing strategies and toast brands making impactful consumer connections. Kick back, relax, and join our happy (half) hour of marketing inspiration and positivity and come away a happier and smarter marketer. Brought to you by Vesta, the leading online community building technology company.
Ken Lempit, President of Austin Lawrence Group, joins the final Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Business Manifestation. Hear how to manifest success in your business and life, lower your churn rate, the most common mistakes CEOs make, how to grow as a SaaS company, and Ken’s transition from the corporate world to his family business. Connect with Ken at AustinLawrence.com and on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening to Happy Marketer Connection! Stay tuned for our new podcast which will focus on Community Powered Marketing – coming in Q1 2021
Michael Neuendorff, Executive Coach, Trainer, and President of Build and Balance, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Connection. Hear how to connect with your audience, tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile, how businesspeople connected before LinkedIn, how to stay dedicated to your work, and how Michael has kept his entrepreneurial spirit. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn, YouTube, and BuildAndBalance.com
Jay Wong, Founder of Podcast Your Brand, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Progress over Perfection. Hear how to decide the theme of your podcast, whether a podcast is right for your brand, how to build a community with your podcast, the triangle effect from a strong podcast, email list, and private group, and how Jay takes an agency approach to podcasting. Connect with Jay at DoneForYouPodcast.co and on Instagram at @TheJayWong
Erica Solomon, Beauty Director, Customer Experience Partnerships at Brandshare, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Beauty Trends. Hear the top beauty trends and how changing consumer habits are impacting development, the vital role product sampling has in driving trial and loyalty, alternatives to in-store sampling, and some growing beauty brands to keep your eye on. Connect with Erica at Brandshare.US
April Martini, Co-Founder of Forthright People, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Personal Branding. Hear the key essentials for building your personal brand and steps to get started, ways to balance the focus on your personal brand vs. the company brand, how to approach finding the right business partner, moving projects forward without delays, and the benefits of working with small businesses. Connect with April at Forthright-People.com and on LinkedIn
Jessica Lauria, a skilled Marketing Consultant with experience on the client- and agency-side, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Relationships. Hear how to build strong relationships with your agency partners, how the client-agency dynamic has changed, what to look for in a marketing agency, how to give helpful feedback, and Jessica’s lessons from both client-side and agency-side. Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn
Emma Isaacs, Founder and Global CEO of Business Chicks, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Winging It. Hear the importance of becoming an expert at failing, the why and ways to avoid overplanning, how to pivot and pivot again, create an organization that inspires, and how Emma has grown her business while raising a “half dozen” kids. Connect with Emma on Instagram at @BusinessChicks and @EmmaIsaacs, and at BusinessChicks.com and EmmaIsaacs.com
Craig Dubitsky, Founder of hello products and Chief Innovation Strategist at Colgate, joins Happy Marketer Connection for an epically positive episode about the benefits of being friendly. Hear how to make friendliness your business game-changer, why FOMO is changing the retail landscape, how to create a brand that makes people smile and a company culture that fosters creativity and happiness, and Craig’s journey from starting hello products to it being acquired by Colgate-Palmolive. Connect with Craig at hello-products.com and on LinkedIn
Julie Levi, President and Founder of Progressive Promotions, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Passion, Patience, and Persistence. Hear what it takes to succeed as a Salesperson and Entrepreneur, what true persistence looks like and why it's worth it, the ways Sales has changed over the years, how to hire and support your business development team, and the Sales lessons Julie’s family shares with each generation. Connect with Julie at ProgressivePromotions.com or on LinkedIn
Pia Marquez, Digital Marketing Sr. Manager at Del Monte, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss building your Personal Brand. Hear why it's important to develop your personal brand, the benefits of working for small and large companies, why marketers should take a page from designers by building their own websites, how to add skills at each stop of your career, cultivating mentors, and finding what you’re truly passionate about. Connect with Pia at PiaMarquez.com
Dustin Finkel, Founder and CEO of Ancient inGRAINed Snack Co, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Relationships. Hear how to grow your network, create beneficial relationships across industries, how Dustin created Ka-Pop!, his experiences on Shark Tank and QVC, and how to have a solid financial understanding of your company. Connect with Dustin at KaPopSnacks.com with the code TOPKAPOP, on Amazon, and at orders@KaPopSnacks.com
Zachary Weinberg, Director of Amazon Advisory at Gartner, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss eCommerce trends. Hear how eCommerce has changed in recent years, how to dominate your category on Amazon, what the top brands are learning from challenger and D2C brands, what new e-tailing trends are here to stay, and what you can learn from a failed project. Connect with Zachary on LinkedIn
Chris Teigland, Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Community and Birdhouse, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Creativity. Hear how to come up with creative products and services, find creative inspiration, the challenges and marketing opportunities with running a restaurant, what to do with negative consumer feedback, and the parallels between cooking and playing in a rock band. Connect with Chris at EatAtCommunity.com and EatAtBirdhouse.com
Tim Hayden, Chief Executive Officer of Brain+Trust and an expert in data collection and protection, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Privacy and Profits. Hear how companies use your consumer data, the paradox between privacy and personalization, how you can leverage data as a business, the impact of the CCPA, and why Tim believes marketers need to move quickly to build direct consumer connections. Connect with Tim at BrainTrust.Partners, NextPracticeGroup.com, and on Twitter at @YourBrainTrust, @WhatsNext_TNP, and @TheTimHayden
Lewis Schiff, Chairman of Birthing of Giants and Moonshots and Moneymakers, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Entrepreneurism. Hear how to disrupt your industry, harness your passion to create a thriving business, stay inspired with your work, the key to building lasting value in your business, how Lewis’s program partners with Oxford and MIT to support game-changing ideas, and why he believes entrepreneurs will be the ones to innovate our way out of the global health crisis. Connect with Lewis at BirthingOfGiants.com and BirthingOfGiants.com/TheFirstHabit
Lindsay Stein, Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Today, I'm Brave, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Bravery. Hear how to market a nonprofit, determine your core mission, develop strategic partnerships, what it means to be brave, and Lindsay’s pivot from journalist and Editor-in-Chief to CEO of a nonprofit. Connect with Lindsay at Lindsay.Stein@TodayImBrave.org and on Instagram at @Lindsay_Stein
Max Branstetter, Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Growth. Hear how to start a professional-sounding podcast, use your podcast as a marketing tool, find guests for your podcast, tips for hosting and producing a podcast, and Max’s personal favorite episodes of the Wild Business Growth Podcast. Connect with Max at MaxPodcasting.com and the Wild Business Growth Podcast
Shonda Brown, Senior Associate Brand Manager at Church and Dwight, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Pivoting. Hear how to pivot your career and marketing strategies, the game-changing insights that come from online brand communities, what Shonda has learned about cats and cat owners from her online community, how to market organically, and why Shonda decided not to become a lawyer. Connect with Shonda on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram
Rachel Braun Scherl, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SPARK Solutions for Growth, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss being a Pioneer. Hear how to pioneer a new industry, how Rachel became the Vagipreneur, the difference in working for small and large companies, the top three skills every businessperson needs, and how to create a creative pitch. Connect with Rachel at SPARKSolutionsForGrowth.com, RachelBraunScherl.com, and on social media at @RBScherl and @RachelBraunScherl
Cathy Murphy, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Venus Media Group, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Balance. Hear how to connect your brand with women and stay true to your company purpose, why it's helpful for your business to be platform-agnostic, the reason Cathy took the entrepreneurial leap, and how to achieve work-life balance even in the era of remote school. Connect with Cathy at VenusMediaGroup.com and on social media at @VenusMediaGroup
Anne Candido, Co-Founder of Forthright People, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Brand Love. Hear how to create connections with your consumers, turn your fans into brand evangelists, the three questions you need to be able to answer to have a brand, and what junior marketers and senior marketers can learn from each other. Connect with Anne at Forthright-People.com and on LinkedIn
Alan Sutton, VP Global Sales and Operations at Jay@Play, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Heritage. Hear the pros and cons of working with family, how to build a global brand, be nimble as a company, resolve conflicts within your team and supply chain, and what the fashion and toy industry have in common. Check out Alan’s toys at JayAtPlay.com, HappyNappers.com, Lullabrites.com, BuyStuffaloons.com, and MushABelly.com
Alex Colkitt, the Content and Community Strategist for Sir Kensington's, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Engagement. Hear why quality engagement is more important than quantity of impressions, how to engage with your customers and partners, how Sir Kensington’s champions the “dignity of food,” the erosion of trust and authenticity in social media, and Alex’s favorite examples of brands winning with engagement. Connect with Sir Kensington’s at SirKensingtons.com and join their community at SirKensingtons.com/TasteBuds
David Rich, the Founder of Palabra, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Storytelling. Hear how he's building a business around storytelling, why we learn through reflecting, how to unleash your passion into your branding, embracing your entrepreneurial spirit during times of crisis, and his experience finishing the Ironman Triathlon right before his wife went into labor. Connect with David at Palabra.co, DavidJRich.com, and on LinkedIn at @DavidJRich
Chris Pyne, the Founder and President of Junction 37, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Values. Hear how to establish strong company values, maintain discipline as part of your company culture, be a source of stability as a brand, what traits to look for when hiring, and Chris’s journey to start his own agency. Connect with Chris at Junction37.com and on LinkedIn
Michele Muhammad, the Chief Marketing Officer of DSE Healthcare, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Transformational Marketing. Hear how to transform your brand, give back with your marketing efforts, market to multiple generations, manage supply chain challenges, and become a CMO. Connect with Michele at 4We.org and on LinkedIn
Tom Deierlein, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ThunderCat Technology and the TD Foundation, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Grit. Hear why grit is the most important success factor and how to train yourself to have more, why you need to be setting SMART goals, leading during times of crisis, and how Tom survived and thrived after receiving a Purple Heart in the Army. Connect with Tom on LinkedIn and Twitter at @TomDeierlein and at TDfoundation.org
Gina Bonafede, the Director of Marketing for DAS Companies, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss Connection Marketing. Hear how DAS built a community of passionate truck drivers, why you always need to focus on the customer, how online communities build connections between brands and customers, to craft your messaging during challenging times, and Gina’s favorite happy hour treats. Connect with Gina on LinkedIn and at DASinc.com
Dawn Dobras, the Chief Executive Officer of Credo Beauty, joins Happy Marketer Connection to discuss being a Champion. Hear how Credo supports hundreds of women-led beauty brands, how to transition from retail to eCommerce, how to give genuine feedback to improve marketing, the power of customer service, and why it’s vital to discuss challenging topics. Connect with Dawn on LinkedIn and at CredoBeauty.com
Welcome to Happy Marketer Connection. Meet Sue Frech, Co-Founder and CEO of Vesta, who will explore inventive and engaging marketing strategies every week with a fellow passionate marketer. For Episode 1, Sue decided to turn the tables and be interviewed by Marlea Clark, CMO of Stella Rising, on the theme of Evolution. Hear Sue’s background, the rebranding of Vesta, and what to expect on future episodes of Happy Marketer Connection. Connect with Sue on LinkedIn and Twitter at @SueFrech, and at Vesta-Go.com
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