:: Since founding my consulting company in 2001, I’ve been serving Silicon Valley CEOs as an interim VP marketing. Usually they are running smallish companies and either haven’t yet brought a full-time VP marketing on board or they just lost their VP marketing for some reason. Either way, my clients are wise enough to realize that they’re operating under a handicap – likely losing both mindshare and market share -- if this role is vacant. After serving 12 companies in the last 16 years, I took … [Read more...]
Top Five Lessons Learned from My 16 Years as an “Interim VP Marketing”
September 7, 2017 By 1 Comment
Why Do Consultants Have Crappy LinkedIn Profiles?
September 1, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: I just read a content marketing article that said I should be provocative and emotional in my headline. My style is usually much more supportive and complimentary. However, now I’ve got your attention, let’s look at some of the problems consultants have with their LinkedIn profiles. Consultants are smart We know we should be paying attention to our LinkedIn profiles. We’ve read the statistics on how many people are looking at it. We know that although we may not get business through … [Read more...]
Leaders Network Retreat Provides Insights and Connections to Fuel for Business Growth
August 17, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: “In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion." Albert Camus Turning away from the day-to-day "busy-ness" of running your business is critical to remembering why you started it and what you need to do to propel it forward. I am huge believer in regular and focused retreats because they have been critical in the success of my business. My most recent retreat (July 21-22, 2017) with the Women In Consulting Leaders Network team was no exception. Fifteen of us … [Read more...]
Mastermind: An Appreciation
August 11, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: Building and running one’s own consulting practice has its challenges. When I meet people and tell them I do consulting, they sometimes look impressed, but do not know what to say after that! It has been important to build a community of colleagues who understand different aspects of consulting. About a year ago, I heard about WIC Mastermind groups and decided to take the plunge. I already had a wide network of colleagues and fairly clear areas of expertise (facilitation, strategic … [Read more...]
Ready for the Results? Best Practices Survey Reviewed at June Meeting
June 1, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: We all need a reality check now and again, and the annual WIC Best Practices Survey is a great place to start. Mark your calendar for Thursday, June 15th when Survey Program Director Jen Berkley Jackson of The Insight Advantage and Deb Siegle of Strategic Marketing Solutions will share this year’s results from your consulting peers. So now is the time to join WIC if you want to know more about things like: Total revenue for 2016 Average hourly rate Average retainer fee … [Read more...]
How Do You Start Your Pitch?
April 18, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: Ok, you have something you’d like to pitch… Where do you start? To help explain, let me set a scene for you: You’re on a nineteen-hour flight between Sydney and Dallas. In the seat next to you is the one person you’ve been trying to talk to for over a year; the VP of Marketing you’d like to show your new product story to, the movie producer who would love your story outline, or your CEO. Direct TV is broken, so you have their full attention for the entire nineteen hours. This is the … [Read more...]
Essential Tech Tools for Entrepreneurs
January 14, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: Entrepreneurs need lots of support to be successful, and it can take many forms. For example, it’s important to have sources for trusted advice, like the Small Business Administration. It’s also key to have practical tools to get established and maintain your workflow. Here are a few valuable use cases and my go-to technology tools: Keep track of the interwebs. You probably have a number of websites and blogs you visit to get your daily dose of news about your industry. It’s a waste of … [Read more...]
Hitting the High Ground in 2017
January 10, 2017 By Leave a Comment
:: As women business owners, many of us were eagerly looking forward to seeing our country’s first woman president elected in November. Unfortunately, as we all know, that didn’t happen. The aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory has been a country deeply divided, with anger and aggression erupting on both sides. Regardless of which candidate you supported, you’ll need to deal with a changed business climate in 2017. Here are 5 factors to consider in your upcoming business dealings: … [Read more...]
The 2016 WIC Speed Mentoring Event in Review
December 15, 2016 By 1 Comment
:: When I proposed launching a WIC Mentorship Program in 2014, none of us knew where it would lead. WIC has an incredibly vibrant community, with a culture of supporting one another’s success; a mentorship program seemed a natural fit for the organization. Fast forward two years: we’ve launched six Mastermind groups and two Speed Mentoring events, with demand for more. We’ve had bumps along the way. Still, with great member suggestions – and a little patience – WIC continues to evolve the … [Read more...]
Honoring Your Values Is The Key To Success
October 11, 2016 By Leave a Comment
:: Why are your values so important to job satisfaction? You’ve probably seen the “corporate values” posted on the wall somewhere of the headquarters of an organization, or on their website perhaps. You might actually read them and think to yourself, those are nice. It might even give you a bit of a warm-n-fuzzy feel about the work that company is doing in the world. That’s great for the customers. But what does that actually mean to the employees? How do those values actually … [Read more...]
