Sept 13: Expert talk about the STUPID mistakes bloggers make!

September 11th, 2012

SLMA Host Jim Obermayer Interviews Dan McDade president of PointClear and Susan Finch of SusanFinch.com. McDade publishes ViewPoint, The Truth About Lead Generation which was just named One of Top 50 Blogs by Top Sales World. Susan Finch, the director web services for the SLMA, has created over 100 blogs for her clients. Learn what works and what doesn’t. Hear what Dan McDade has to say about what he has done to create an award winning blog. Hear from Susan Finch who recounts the stupidest, and sometimes costliest mistakes new bloggers make.

About Dan McDade

Dan McDade founded PointClear in 1997 with the mission to be the first and best company providing prospect development services to business-to-business companies with complex sales processes. He has been instrumental in developing the innovative strategies that drive revenue for PointClear clients nationwide.

In addition to serving as president and CEO of PointClear, Dan is the author of The Truth About Leads, an insightful book that sheds light on the little-known secrets that help focus B2B lead-generation efforts, align sales and marketing organizations and drive revenue. The book was published in 2011.

Dan is a board member and immediate past-chairman of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Education Collaborative, an organization promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in Georgia’s middle and high schools. He also serves on the TAG board. The Sales Lead Management Association named Dan one of the 50 most influential people in sales lead management in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In addition he was named a 2012 Top Sales Expert and one of the Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2012 by Top Sales World. Dan is also the author of ViewPoint | The Truth About Lead Generation, a blog exploring issues related to B2B sales, marketing and lead generation.

About PointClear

PointClear is the prospect development company. Founded in 1997, the Atlanta-based company helps B2B companies drive revenue. PointClear closes the gap between marketing and sales—nurturing leads, engaging contacts and developing prospects until they're ready to close.

PointClear’s prospect development services include market development, lead development and opportunity development, encompassing the following functions: lead generation, qualification, and nurturing; event support; and data segmentation and management. The company stands out because of its strategic approach to planning; the quality of its people; and a multi-touch, multi-media, multi-cycle prospecting process.

This unique combination gives clients such as Quincy Compressor, CenterBeam, South Star Entergy Services, Intermec, Bomgar, Microsoft, Optum Insight, Joulex and D&B more predictable forecasts and significantly higher revenue results.

About Susan Finch

Susan prides herself on keeping the ego out of client blogging and web devel0pment. She believes in giving her clients all access to their files, with warnings of course of how to NOT break it. She has been in Marketing and Public Relations since 1984 and began devel0ping websites in 1996 with her first client, the City of Anaheim. Over the past several years she has a spent a lot of her time training clients on how to take charge of their sites, become disciplined in adding good content regularly, and helping them avoid simple, yet sometimes catastrophic mistakes.

Her background in public relations has helped her advise clients as to what they should share, and how they should respond to unexpected headlines that involve their companies. Laguna Woods Village (formerly Leisure World) in Laguna Woods, CA taught her about the importance of training clients and spokespeople to respond to the media and express their views in a positive and diplomatic way.

Susan has been a director for the SLMA since 2008. She is also the founder and CEO of Binky Patrol, Inc. - an all volunteer non-profit that makes blankets and gives them away to children and teens in need of comfort.

Connect with her: susanfinch.com | LinkedIn | @susanfinchweb

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Posted in Public Relations, Current and Past Shows, Marketing & Media, Branding | Comments |

Feb 16: Jeff Pedowitz and Debbie Qaqish of The Pedowitz Group

February 13th, 2012

Will Crist will ask Debbie and Jeff about:

The three biggest issues facing B2B marketers in 2012?
What’s your definition of a revenue marketer?
Tell us about your Revenue Marketer Radio program?
Who was the best interview you’ve had on your Revenue Marketing Radio program?
How can marketers measure marketing ROI from social media?
Tell us how to integrate sales and marketing activities and goals.
How large does a company have to be before it can use The Pedowitz Group?

Jeff and Debbie have been independently named as two of the most Influential People in Sales Lead Management in 2010 and 2011. Debbie was also recognized in 2011 as one of the 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management.

Jeff Pedowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer the Pedowitz Group Jeff has 20 years of experience leading successful B2C and B2B organizations. As founder and president of The Pedowitz Group, Jeff is responsible for setting the company's vision and strategic direction along with managing all daily operations. He frequently writes and speaks on a variety of topics related to demand generation, Web 2.0, and marketing.

Debbie Qaqish, Chief Revenue Marketing Officer As a principal partner and chief revenue marketing officer of The Pedowitz Group, Debbie is responsible for developing and managing client relationships, as well as leading the firm’s strategic partnerships and alliances.

Debbie is a nationally recognized speaker, thought leader and innovator in the demand generation field, with more than 30 years of experience applying strategy, technology and process to help B2B companies drive revenue growth.

Debbie has been at the forefront of the marketing automation phenomenon, first as a beneficiary, and as an advocate and expert. She is a frequent speaker and writer on topics related to driving revenue through demand generation techniques, marketing automation technologies and the integration of sales and marketing.

Posted in Public Relations | Comments |

Feb Shows: Shawn Naggiar, Kevin Miller, Jeff Pedowitz, Debbie Qaqish and Paul Mosenson

February 1st, 2012

The Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA) weekly radio program (broadcast live at 5 PM PST each Thursday), announced the line-up for February’s SLMA Radio Programs. He will interview Shawn Naggiar CRO of Act-On Software on Feb 2nd, Kevin Miller CMO and Principle of SalesFUSION on February 9th, Jeff Pedowitz and Debbie Qaqish of the Pedowitz Group on Feb 15th and Paul Mosenson President of NuSpark Marketing on Feb 23rd. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in CRM and Related, Marketing Automation, Public Relations, Current and Past Shows, Marketing & Media, ROI | Comments |

Jan. 5: Jill Konrath - 3 Biggest Problems You Are Called Upon to Fix

January 2nd, 2012

Jill Konrath’s career is defined by her relentless search for fresh sales strategies that actually work in today’s business environment. She's a bestselling author and frequent speaker at sales conferences.

We will be talking to Jill about the three biggest problems you are called upon to fix at companies and your success in fixing them, as well as her book, SNAP Selling.

SNAP Selling, Jill's newest book, jumped to #1 on Amazon within hours of its release. Selling to Big Companies, her 1^st book, was selected as a "must-read" by Fortune magazine. It's been an Amazon Top 20 sales book since 2006.

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Posted in Public Relations, Sales Strategist, Sales Skills Training, Marketing & Media | Comments |

Dec. 29: Best of SLMA Radio - Lisa Cramer, Jeff Pedowitz and Russell Kern

December 26th, 2011

The Sales Lead Management Association hosts a live weekly radio program dedicated to the management of sales leads. This week’s guests are: Lisa Cramer and Russell Kern

Commentary: Jeff Pedowitz, The Pedowitz Group.


Lisa Cramer, LeadLife Solutions	Russell Kern, President of The Kern Organization

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Posted in Public Relations | Comments |

Dec 8: Crisis Communications Planning with Bob Conrad and Aprimo’s Lisa Arthur Data Socialization

December 6th, 2011

Bob Conrad, Conrad Communications

SLMA Director, Christel Hall brings our guest, Bob Conrad to us. She had this introduction to share, "Bob is a PhD, APR, and colleague here in Northern Nevada, whose day job is as public information officer for the State of Nevada (Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources). As such, he has dealt with crisis management issues many times and speaks on crisis management to other business groups. In fact, he recently created an ebook (available on his website) that covers an interview with Jim Lukazewski, who is PRSA National’s expert on crisis management, and who has been a crisis management consultant for major corporations and government officials.

Off hours, Bob is an author and blogger/creator of ThisisReno.com, a community news site. I just finished editing Bob’s next book which addresses in part how often the media misinform…Toyota, EWG, etc., and are sometimes instrumental in creating a crisis where none would otherwise exist. So as a public relations specialist, a crisis communications specialist, and a blogger, he provides an interesting mix. Plus, he’s not shy about being controversial with some of his comments."

Bob will be discussing planning for the unforeseen emergency through good leadership and other tips.

SLMA Director, Susan Finch will be interjecting a few tips with regards to preparing your online presence to distribute your emergency or message about an unplanned situation quickly and effectively.

Lisa Arthur, Chief Marketing Officer - Aprimo

Lisa will be speaking on the topic of the "socialization of data" and how this trend impacts customer engagement. As Aprimo’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lisa drives global market and brand strategy, solutions and product marketing, demand generation and customer-centric initiatives. A 25-year marketing veteran, she has served as CMO for Internet leader Akamai Technologies and B2B2C application provider Mindjet.

Lisa spent nearly seven years at Oracle, where as a Vice President of Marketing, she managed the market entry and growth for Oracle CRM and drove market and demand initiatives for all of Oracle’s services including its E-Business Suite On-Demand. Most recently, as the founder for Cinterim, Lisa applied her market-centric processes and insight to provide strategic counsel for Silicon Valley start-ups and Fortune 50 technology companies.

Lisa is a seasoned keynote speaker and has addressed diverse topics at Web 2.0, Office 2.0, American Marketing Association (AMA) Strategy Conference, Stanford University and the MIT Sloan CMO Summit. She has also appeared on Asia’s Wall Street Journal broadcast and published papers with AMA. Lisa is a member of Ball State’s Emerging Media Board of Advisors and a former advisory board member of the CMO Council. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio State University.

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Posted in Public Relations, Marketing & Media | Comments |

Oct. 6 Show: Debra da Costa, Direct Marketing Partners and Susan Finch, Binky Patrol, Inc.

October 4th, 2011

Debra da Costa, CEO Direct Marketing Partners

Debra da Costa is the founder and CEO of one of the leading sales lead management service providers, Direct Marketing Partners. Debra is a pioneer in the sales lead field. Debra da Costa founded Direct Marketing Partners in 1991 with the goal of creating a company truly responsive to the individual needs of clients. To this end, she structured DMP so that the company would be large enough to have the depth of expertise required by corporations with worldwide interests, but of a size that would permit close project participation by all the firm's senior staff, as well as flexibility and agility.

From the beginning, and under Debra's leadership, DMP has provided clients with marketing campaigns, which generate sales leads of superior quality. Over the years, the company’s offerings have expanded to include call center/ telemarketing, hosted database, list research and acquisition, direct mail, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing, professional services consulting, fulfillment and event support services.

Before creating DMP, Debra was the President of Debra da Costa Consulting where she was responsible for high-tech industry marketing campaigns.

In her career, Debra has held several design and technical positions with public agencies in both Canada and the U.S. and was responsible for the marketing efforts of Lawrence Moss and Associates. It is through these experiences that she discovered that all roads lead to marketing.

Debra will be answering question and sharing insights on the importance of lead qualification.

Susan Finch, Founder/CEO Binky Patrol, Inc. - a 501c3

In 1996 Susan Finch was immersed in a high-end art gallery in Laguna Beach, but knew she needed to do something to help her community and children in need. The idea for Binky Patrol Comforting Covers for Kids came to her one afternoon and she immediately contacted local media to help her get this idea rolling. One of the first partnerships she developed was with Wahoo's Fish Taco headquartered in Santa Ana, California. She learned the value of mutually beneficial partnerships with regards to sponsors and events. She was carried along in the beginning by Wahoo's Founder, Wing Lam who showed her how everyone can win and all brands can benefit from the criss-cross marketing and publicity. This was before Social Media and the Internet was truly getting its legs at that point. Now, 15 years later, the organization has enjoyed publicity at the local level with chapters finding their own corporate partners. The companies are able to utilize the list of the charity and gain exposure, goodwill and a sense of community without a lot of effort. The charity benefits from the added volunteer force, exposure to the sponsors clients, newsgroups and social media reach. All benefit. Susan will answer questions about ways B2B and B2C can help expand their reach while helping a charity, without putting a strain on their budgets.

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Posted in Inquiry Management, Public Relations, SEO and Social Media | Comments |

June 30 Show: Peter Shankman and Mike Muhney of VIPorbit

June 27th, 2011

Peter Shankman

PR Week Magazine has described Peter as “redefining the art of networking”, and Investor’s Business Daily has called him “crazy, but effective”. Peter Shankman is a spectacular example of what happens when you merge the power of pure creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a dose of adventure, and make it work to your advantage.

An author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, and customer service.

Peter is best known for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO) which in under a year became the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline, offering them more than 200,000 sources around the world looking to be quoted in the media. HARO is currently the largest free source repository in the world, sending out over 1,500 queries from worldwide media each week.

Peter is also the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc., a boutique Social Media, Marketing and PR Strategy firm located in New York City, with clients worldwide. His blog, which he launched in 1995 at http://shankman.com, both comments on and generates news and conversation.

Peter is the author of two books: Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them (Wiley and Sons 2006) and Customer Service: New Rules for a Social-Enabled World (Que/Pearson, 2010) and a frequent keynote speaker and workshop presenter at conferences and tradeshows worldwide

A marketing pundit for several national and international news channels, including Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, Peter is frequently quoted in major media and trade publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, The Associated Press, Reuters and USA Today.

Born and raised in New York City, Peter still resides there with his two psychotic cats, Karma and NASA.

Mike Muhney, VIPorbit

Mike Muhney is the CEO & Founder of VIPorbit, a software startup company focused on Mobile Contact Management solutions initially focusing on the iPhone and soon iPad.

Mike’s credentials? Well, he is the Co-Founder and Inventor/Designer of ACT! – the product that originally created the Contact Management category globally. During it’s 24-year life ACT! has had over 10,000,000 people globally use it.

Mike is also Co-Author of a forthcoming book “Who’s In Your ORBIT?” and subtitled “Beyond Facebook…Creating Relationships That Matter.”

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Posted in Public Relations, Marketing & Media | Comments |

May 5 Show: Public Relations and Marketing, Lisa Arthur and Christel Hall

May 3rd, 2011

Lisa Arthur, Chief Marketing Officer - Aprimo

As Aprimo’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lisa drives global market and brand strategy, solutions and product marketing, demand generation and customer-centric initiatives. A 25-year marketing veteran, she has served as CMO for Internet leader Akamai Technologies and B2B2C application provider Mindjet.

Christel Hall, PRowrite

Christel Hall is owner and operator of PRowrite Public Relations, specializing in business-to-business public relations consulting, writing and editing. While Christel promotes client products and services to journalists and bloggers, she also helps those same B2B clients, large and small, understand how to communicate productively and profitably direct to target audiences via the Internet and social media.

Her experience includes several years in marketing communications and public relations for corporations such as Hewlett-Packard, Beckman Instruments, Lear Siegler, Legacy Electronics, and Micromanipulator, and for agencies Needham Harper Worldwide and The Young Company, before founding PRowrite in 1990. Christel serves on many boards and committees for the Public Relations Society of America, the Business Marketing Association, the SoCal PR Network, the Carson Area Marketing and PR Network (CAMPN) and SLMA.

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Posted in Public Relations, SEO and Social Media | Comments |

April 21 Show: Jeff Pedowitz and Tony Rutigliano

April 18th, 2011

Jeff Pedowitz of The Pedowitz Group Jeff Pedowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer

We will ask Jeff why the Pedowitz Group is ranked 12th in Atlanta’s fastest Growing Companies (out of 50). What does his company do that is different from his competitors? What advice can he give sales manager’s to grow their revenue in 2011? What is the number one error marketing manager’s are making in 2011?

Jeff has 20 years of experience leading successful B2C and B2B organizations. As founder and president of The Pedowitz Group, Jeff is responsible for setting the company's vision and strategic direction along with managing all daily operations. He frequently writes and speaks on a variety of topics related to demand generation, Web 2.0, and marketing.

Prior to founding The Pedowitz Group, Jeff served as vice president of professional services for Eloqua, one of the world's leading providers of demand generation software. While there, he spearheaded a best practices consulting organization from the ground up and helped Eloqua achieve a significant thought leadership position in the marketplace.

Jeff began his career with Subway Sandwiches, where he successfully built a territory to include 35 owned and franchised stores. From there, he held key leadership and executive positions with Computer Associates, SmartTime Software, and Salesnet.

Tony Rutigliano - Gallup and co-author of Strengths Basd Selling

Tony Rutigliano, Founder of Gallup’s Sales Force Effectiveness Practice

The SLMA will ask Tony why his book Strengths Based Selling is difference from the several dozen other books on selling published each month. We’ll ask what sales managers, salespeople and C-Level management can learn from his book.

Tony Rutigliano is coauthor of Strengths Based Selling, which Gallup Press published in March 2011. Rutigliano consults on ways that organizations can improve their effectiveness in assessing, developing, and retaining talented contributors. A founder and leader of Gallup's sales force effectiveness practice, he has expertise in measuring the capacity for success within individuals and teams and helping organizations deploy effective systems to recruit and manage their human capital.

Rutigliano rejoined Gallup in 2007 as a Senior Practice Expert after serving nearly four years as Vice President/Chief Learning Officer for ADP. At ADP, Rutigliano oversaw initiatives and programs aimed at improving the organization's learning, leadership development, succession planning, performance management, and talent-assessment capabilities. He also led many of the sales training and sales-manager development efforts for ADP's force of more than 5,000 reps.

Before joining ADP in 2004, Rutigliano served as a Senior Managing Consultant with Gallup. During his 10 years with the company, he worked with clients in the technology, financial services, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and media industries throughout North America and Europe. Rutigliano also served in a leadership role during the launch of Gallup's Q12 employee engagement practice.

Before initially joining Gallup, Rutigliano was publisher and editor-in-chief of Sales & Marketing Management magazine, where he led a team that reported on and influenced key trends in sales force structure, automation, training, and compensation. He has also served as a director with the American Management Association, where he worked in such fields as human resources management, training, and compensation.

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