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Integrate & Ignite | Marketing Insights to Inspire

The Integrate & Ignite podcast explores the nature of what it means to be at the helm of marketing decisions. Every episode is crafted to make people think, to spark some “aha!” moments, and to illustrate just how important a truly integrated marketing strategy and a solid, inspired brand presence is to success and longevity. Your host, Lori Jones, is the President & CEO of Avocet Communications, and she has over 30 years of integrated marketing experience. Lori has interviewed over 300 top business leaders on the show with backgrounds in B2B and B2C from brands such as General Motors, IBM, McDonald's, and Netsuite. It is the wisest and most successful of leaders that know the value of advice, that can listen, and that can also share their experiences with others. Whether you're a CEO, a CMO, Marketing Director, or an entrepreneur who wears many hats, this podcast is for you. For more information and Show Notes, go to www.avocetcommunications.com
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Now displaying: August, 2018
Aug 30, 2018

“User experience is where fingers meet technology.”

 Scott Kincaid started at Usability Sciences 20+ years ago with a lofty goal to make the world a little more intuitive, one bit at a time. As to be expected in small companies, he has worn many hats including researcher, operations manager, sales engineer, salesforce.com admin, and executive. In his time of user research consulting, Scott has worked for a wide range of companies including Salesforce, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and Dell.

Listen And Learn:

  • The importance of knowing your target market’s tech knowledge.
  • Why your customers need to know “what’s on the other side of the wall.”
  • How to listen differently and without prejudice.
  • The importance of gathering data in the moment, as opposed to focusing on questions about what a customer might do in the future.
  • Why it’s important to target your indirect competition.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT USABILITY SCIENCES, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND SCOTT KINCAID ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 28, 2018

“Most business owners have been more conscientious about writing directions and instructions for their babysitters (than they have) with writing contingency plans for their businesses.”

Nate Sachs is the founder and owner of Blueprints For Tomorrow. He has four decades of experience in succession, contingency, and key employee retention, and is also an author, credentialed national speaker, and adviser to over three thousand entrepreneurs. Nate frequently lecturers across the country to business owners on various topics, has published over 200 articles, and is a sought-after expert resource for publications about strategic business planning and exit strategies. Out of 150 speakers in their first year speaking for Vistage International, Nate received the Speaker of the Year award and to date, delivers 75-100 presentations a year. 

 

Listen And Learn:

  • Why less than 5% of all business owners can walk away from their businesses and maintain the same lifestyle they are currently enjoying.
  • How he helps business owners simplify and mitigate three of their biggest challenges.
  • Why it’s difficult for business owners to look at the end of the runway and talk about their mortality.
  • The most common challenges entrepreneurs face when it comes to succession planning, attracting and retaining talent, and planning for retirement.
  • How he helps business owners prepare for the unexpected.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BLUEPRINTS FOR TOMORROW, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND NATE SACHS ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 27, 2018

“If you focus on your overall goals, on creating sustainable sales, and on finding your ideal reader you will hit Number One in your category on Amazon.”

 

Julie Broad, founder of Book Launchers, is an Amazon Overall #1 Best Selling Author, an International Book Award Winner, and recipient of the Beverly Hills Book Award for Best Sales book. As an entrepreneur and successful real estate investor she was also awarded the Top 20 under 40 Award. Book Launchers helps entrepreneurs and professionals build their brand and boost their business by writing, publishing, and selling a top quality book.

 

Listen And Learn:

• The importance of finding your ideal reader.
• Defining your “unique hook.”
• How outlining goals at the outset makes the process of actually writing a book much easier.
• SMART Goal setting.
• How to define and live your personal brand.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BOOK LAUNCHERS, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND JULIE BROAD ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 23, 2018

“The brand is a souvenir of a lifestyle.”

 

In May of 2017, W.H. Ranch won the Artisan Challenge, cementing owner Ryan Martin in the history books as the Greatest Jean Maker in the World. Ryan is the company’s CEO, CFO, COO, Head Designer, Head Pattern Maker, Head Sewer, Director of Marketing, Creative Director, Head Buyer, Head of Sales, Head of Research and Development, and janitor. Ryan is focused on creating “Heirloom Quality” jeans. For him, this concept conveys the generations of knowledge, five to be precise, that have been passed on to him that are used on every single product from W.H. Ranch Dungarees.

 

Listen And Learn:

  • How he combines old world and new world approaches to build his brand.
  • How focusing on the romanticism of the brand has created a loyal customer following.
  • The importance of aspirational branding.
  • Utilizing brand ambassadors to create and push out content.
  • His strategy for staying true to the brand and delivering on its promise.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT W.H RANCH, CLICK HERE.

 

Aug 21, 2018

“It’s never about the technology and it’s never about the shiny stuff.”

 

George Karayannis is vice president of CityNOW, Panasonic North America, where he leads a high-performing team providing sustainable community solutions to municipalities and private developers. He is passionate about providing sustainable solutions, emerging technologies, and working with ultra-high performing teams. He has led sales, marketing and BD teams at F100 firms and leading-edge wireless startups, and is an expert in supply and demand-side energy management, selling Smart Grid (DR, EE & RE) and Smart City solutions. 

 

Listen And Learn:

  • Bridging the social and equity divides with Smart Cities.
  • How keeping ahead of emerging technology to “navigating Class 5 rapids in a dense fog.
  • How to create a team where the members join to be part of the vision you are creating.
  • The importance of embracing ambiguity and uncertainty.
  • Why your early customers will always be your best salespeople.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CITYNOW, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND GEORGE KARAYANNIS ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 20, 2018

"Sometimes we have to have permission from someone else to uncover our own special kind of genius.”

The eQuilter 15,000 square foot warehouse is located in Boulder, Colorado, and has the largest online selection of high-quality quilt fabrics and related products, with over 22,000 products online and in stock. Luana Rubin, who founded the company with her husband Paul, has a 35+ year background in art, design, and retail. Her eye for color and design – and most especially for identifying trends in the industry – has earned her a coveted membership in the Color Marketing Group and turned her into a world traveler. She has worked in New York and Hong Kong, and been a guest speaker on color and design trends at shows and conferences in Thailand, Japan, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, France, England, and Canada. eQuilter's charity program has raised $1.5 million, and eQuilter has helped to organize and distribute over 12,000 donated quilts for disaster relief, orphans and cancer patients around the world.

  

Listen And Learn:

  • About the myth of the “overnight success.”
  • The importance of mentorship.
  • Why asking, “what’s next?” is crucial for a creative entrepreneur.
  • How she has built her subscriber list to 125,000.
  • The importance of brand standing.
  • How she creates loyal customers.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EQUILTER.COM, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND LUANA RUBIN ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 16, 2018

“Leaders need to build a bridge from, ‘I want to be,’ to ‘I am.’”

 

Dethra U. Giles is an international consultant, best-selling author, and highly sought after keynote speaker. She is the founder of ExecuPrep, a global brand that provides coaching, leadership development, and performance improvement in the workplace. She has worked with multiple industries with hundreds of clients and thousands of leaders worldwide. She is the author of Unstuck: Discovering Career Limiting Actions and Breaking Good Habits and many other featured articles. Her books have greatly contributed to the success of many individuals and organizations in both problem solving and goal setting, and in helping to maximize and maintain personal achievement and productivity.

 

Listen And Learn:

  • Why the habits that got you where you are today may not serve you any longer.
  • The most important skill a leader can have.
  • The need to shift to focus on leadership.
  • How leaders can be better delegators.
  • Why it’s important to NOT strive for or expect perfection.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EXECUPREP, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND DETHRA GILES ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

 

Aug 14, 2018

“Leadership isn’t generational, it’s relational.”

Robby, the founder of Sana Sano Consulting, is a high-performing transformation leader with experience driving change initiatives from startups to Fortune 100 companies. He has shepherded clients through re-orgs, technology implementations, talent evaluation, strategic planning, and multiple acquisitions. He believes in the power of real teams and is passionate about bringing people together to achieve more. He is an engaging, off-the-charts presenter and teacher, sought after in both organizations and at the university level. Robby's first book, Counter Mentor Leadership, which he co-authored with his father, teaches leaders how to be effective in the chaotic, four-generation workplace.

 

Listen And Learn:

  • The complexities of managing and leading the four generations currently in the workplace.
  • Why engaged organizations are safer, and have better employee retention and better bottom line growth.
  • The benefits of Counter Mentor Leadership.
  • Why it’s important to be a “next-level communicator,” especially in times of change.
  • The four most dangerous words a leader can say.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SANA SANO CONSULTING, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND ROBBY RIGGS ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 13, 2018

“Be prepared to iterate.”

Robert Galop is SVP, Product and Marketing, for IntelePeer, where he oversees product strategy and delivery to market of IntelePeer’s leading-edge communications products. His career has been focused on the high-tech industry, including roles in application development, project management, and product and marketing leadership. He drives delivery of successful products by focusing on customer value and end-user experience.

Listen And Learn:

  • How to maximize the brain trust of your team.
  • How to turn customers into evangelists.
  • Connecting the silos within an organization so that each division and team is working together.
  • The value of listening vs. speaking.
  • Strategies for creating thought leadership for your brand.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INTELEPEER, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND ROBERT GALOP ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 9, 2018

“No matter which strategy you take, you still have to have a lot of one-to-one conversations with investors.”

 

Jenny Kassan has been an attorney for social enterprises for 22 years, and is a certified transformational coach, social entrepreneur, investor, and finance innovator. She specializes in helping mission-driven women entrepreneurs raise capital from like-minded investors. Her formula for mission-aligned capital raising has helped diverse entrepreneurs raise millions of dollars on their own terms. She is the founder and president of Community Ventures, a nonprofit dedicated to community economic and social development. Her new book, Raise Capital on Your Own Terms: How to Fund Your Business Without Selling Your Soul, is a guide to finding investors aligned with your business goals and personal values.

 

Listen And Learn:

  • How entrepreneurs can find mission-driven investors.
  • Why you need to make sure that the way you are raising money is legally compliant.
  • Her six-step strategy for raising money for your business.
  • The importance of knowing your non-negotiables.
  • The value in defining your ideal investor at the outset.
  • How to read the queues and know when you might be losing a potential investor.

 

TO FIND JENNY KASSAN ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

 

Products don’t sell themselves. It takes marketing to differentiate and establish a need. Call Avocet Communications TODAY at 303-678-7102.

Aug 7, 2018

“Be a glass box, not a black box.”

 

Geoffrey Colon, senior marketing communications designer at Microsoft, works at the intersection of tech, design, media, human behavior, popular culture, trends, and product innovation. He defines himself as a dreamer + doer + thinker. He is the author of the 2016 book DISRUPTIVE MARKETING: What Growth Hackers, Data Punks, And Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal. At Microsoft, Geoffrey explores and executes creative data-driven communication and design solutions in the emerging world of media. He is the producer of the weekly marketing podcast for eccentric minds, DISRUPTIVE FM, and has been featured on Cheddar TV, Success magazine, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, “Marketplace” on NPR, Entrepreneur, Search Engine Journal, Fast Company, Adweek, and Business Insider.

Listen And Learn:

  • Being “flawsome” should be a goal.
  • Why businesses that are trying to provide solutions with quick and easy answers are missing the point.
  • Going beyond the utilitarian to the emotional.
  • The intersection between marketing and product development.
  • Why we need marketers that understand and celebrate fringe ideas and things that are weird.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MICROSOFT, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND GEOFFREY COLON ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

It’s not about WHAT you do, it’s about WHY you do it. Call Avocet Communications TODAY at 303-678-7102 and we can help you define YOUR why!

Aug 6, 2018

“It does not matter how great your content is if the Google bots or any of the others can’t properly crawl your site.”

 

As a marketing veteran, Ashlee Colliver has worked with well over 70 organizations during her 15+ year career. In her career, Ashlee worked to move an entirely offline company to a nearly 100% digital operation increasing revenues with the move by 152%. She also drove a campaign that resulted in fully funding the build of a not-for-profit Hospice House in Harrison, Arkansas, the only one of its kind in the United States. In the past five years, she’s worked inside the e-Commerce space exclusively. Within Classy Llama, Ashlee launched and continues to lead the marketing services team providing marketing expertise to multiple merchants.

 

Listen And Learn:

  • How to optimize and secure your organic traffic.
  • Her multi-phased approach to planning for and launching a website.
  • The recommended tools for boosting SEO.
  • The importance of “stage crawl.”
  • Why making changes, especially during the staged phase of your website launch, can negatively impact your organic search at launch.
  • How to set up an improvement plan during the post-launch phase.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT  CLASSY LLAMA, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND ASHLEE COLLIVE ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

Aug 2, 2018

“People everywhere have some very common goals. People want more truth and they want more love."

 

Bill Graebel was appointed the chief executive officer of Graebel Companies, Inc. in 2007, and in 2018 was named as chairman of the board of directors. Under his leadership, Bill has evolved the family-owned company into a multi-national, global workforce and workplace mobility solutions provider for some of the world’s top companies. Today, the company manages nearly 80,000 annual mobility initiations across 165 countries, employs nearly 900 people worldwide, and has become synonymous with the highest quality relocation and workplace services. Bill has been awarded several honors including, “Global Mobility Professional of the Year,” “Maverick of the Year,” and was a finalist for “Corporate Responsibility CEO of the Year.”

 

Listen And Learn:

  • How authenticity, transparency, and a values-based style are vitally important to success.
  • The three elements of his leadership and communication style.
  • The importance of having your values on display.
  • How he has positioned his company to be the employer and customer of choice with his team and his suppliers.
  • About the company’s human-centric values.
  • How the company has adapted and evolved over the course of its 60+ -year history.

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GRAEBEL COMPANIES, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND BILL GRAEBEL ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

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