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Interviews


Getting to Know Rosy Villa

April 6, 2009
Posted under Interviews
7
remarks



Rosy Villa - @rosyblue

Rosy Villa - @rosyblue

There are many people that use twitter for many different reasons, getting to know others, education, sharing information. How do you get the most out of twitter and what do you hope to accomplish?
Before joining Twitter, I sent out a weekly newsletter to family and friends. It was a hit and I really enjoyed it. Then, I decided that I wanted to write a blog. But, I had no clue what I needed to do, so the blog idea was placed on the back burner. One day I was reading the New York Times online, I came across the blog, Shifting Careers by Marci Albohers. The blog talked about putting yourself out there via a social network called Twitter. I created an account and that was it. I was clueless and didn’t really know what to do. I was getting followers, but didn’t grasp the concept of following back. Oh the pressure,  I didn’t update for a couple of months. After reading several articles and blog posts about twitter, I decided to use twitter for fun. But, as time has gone by, I realized that I’m using twitter, not only for fun, but educational  purposes, sharing information to people outside of twitter. Plus, I have met some amazing people. And, most importantly, I have realized the importance of social media for business and career, perhaps using twitter someday for this purpose, too. Twitter has changed what I would like to accomplish in life, it like I’m in a candy store and can’t decide what I need to do first. Since using Twitter, I have discovered that I really enjoy writing and  the possiblies are truly limitless. So watch out world, Rosy is here to stay!

Tell us where you are from and what you do for a living?
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. However I had a moment of exploration and moved briefly to Costa Mesa, California (in the O.C.) for 7 years, but missed Los Angeles and moved back. Ah, there is nothing like home sweet home. I have always worked in the health field. I started working in a doctor’s office (truly enjoyed it). The doctor that I worked for was the best (great work ethic and dedicated to the well being of his patients). Then, I moved on to a major Health Insurance Company, I worked in Customer Service and Claims. I loved the interaction with people (even if it was over the phone) and the satisfation that I was able to assist. It was a new experience and learned quite bit. And since I love helping people, the work came easy.  I moved up quickly in the company. As much as I loved the work, the environment was toxic and stressful. After several years,  budget cuts and buy outs,  I made the painful decision to leave two years ago. It was a scary decision, but a brave one. I decided to take my life back. All I was doing was working 10-12 hours a day,  6 days a week with little vacation time. It was time to go and decided to explore other options. I don’t think that I will ever truly leave the healthcare field, it’s too important to me. So as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “I’ll be back.”

Do you know others who use Social Media tools like Twitter in your area? What would you say about the knowledge of people in your area about Social Media in general?
I have a few friends who use Social Media tools like Plurk, Facebook, Identi.ca and friendfeed. To be quite honest, most of my friends use it for fun. Like me, we starting to use social media to enrich our lives and careers. We are a wee behind, but we will get there shortly.

What gets you really motivated and excited?
What truly keeps me motivated and super excites me is my thirst for knowledge. I’m curious about this world, always have been. And it’s keep me open minded. I have always been this way, I remember reading a book as a child, if I didn’t understand the word, I would look it up in the dictionary. I’ve always been a hard worker, nothing stops me from learning new things. I think staying motivated requires that you evolve as a person. I’m not the same person I was in my twenties. I love that about myself.  I just want to be the best person I can be.

Give us one crazy fact about yourself you haven’t already shared.
I own a lot of books, I’m forever reading.  When I hear about a new book, I must have it. I get a crazy feeling and start trying to figure out which is the best way to get the book a.s.a.p. And the truly crazy thing is, once I get the book, it’s probably another 5-6 months before I get a chance to read it (I always have a stack of books to read). I know, I know.

5 Questions with….Gennefer Snowfield – @gennefer

March 2, 2009
Posted under Interviews
2
remarks



Gennefer Snowfield

Gennefer Snowfield of Acclimedia and Jelly Labs

Q: In your bio on the Acclimedia website, it says “Gennefer knows how to innovate, resuscitate and ignite stale thinking, brands and campaigns with an eye on creativity, results and profitability.” Can you give us an example of how you can objectively look at your business to help yourself accomplish these things in some small way if you cannot afford an organization to help right now?

A: Absolutely. Contrary to what a myriad of vendors with the titles of ‘guru’ and ‘expert’ out there will tell you, there is a lot that you can do to elevate your brand marketing efforts without bringing in pricey consultants. While calling on certain competencies that you may not possess is important for developing a holistic strategy that works synergistically across disciplines, in most cases, you are the closest person to your brand (and hopefully, your customers) to be able to make changes that generate results.

Past is Prelude: One of the biggest mistakes most marketers make is changing their brand too often. While it’s important to evolve with the market, and be fluid in your messaging, your core values must remain steadfast. I often recommend to clients that they retrace the history of their brand, and revive some of the elements that worked successfully in the past, and that have gotten them to where they are today. Sometimes, the ‘latest and greatest’ isn’t the answer and new isn’t always better. A brand should make an emotional connection with the customer, and often, reinforcing your original brand position allows them to re-connect and shows that you stand for something. Your design doesn’t need to stagnate as a result of returning to basics, but the intrinsic values that your visuals connote, evoke and communicate should should be consistent. Brands are living, breathing representations of your values, and adoption of that brand is the outward expression of customer support for those shared values. In the end, [brand] substance always trumps sexiness.

Mind the Experience: All too often, marketers scramble to launch a glitzy new campaign without matching up their activities to back end brand interaction and engagement. I continually try to reinforce to my clients the importance of building a logistics and customer service strategy directly into the brand strategy. If there’s a customer-facing touch point, it must be aligned with a corresponding organizational activity — whether it be a well-staffed call center to manage response, an integrated web component or even timely product replenishment and fulfillment. Building a brand extends beyond just marketing, and special care must be taken to pull your call to action through every aspect of the business to ensure a positive — and seamless — customer experience. Ultimately, it will be that experience that connects users with the brand and develops affinity. Even the most creative, well designed ad can’t make up for the lack of it.

Make Friends with Your Data: For me, the most disheartening of all branding blunders is overlooking data, and not defining metrics for success at the onset of a campaign. It’s critical to set clear objectives for each initiative and track corresponding data to measure how you’re performing against those objectives. The beauty of online initiatives, in particular, is that you’re afforded a wealth of data around how users interact with your communications. From open and click through rates to interactions on social networks, and even site activity, those behaviors are very telling. Watching — and understanding — what creative/messaging or calls to action resonate best with your customers will allow you to scale those activities to produce the desired results. A strong brand delivers on what the customer wants, not what the brand manager thinks the consumer wants. And keeping a close eye on behavior will allow you to craft the right message, create the right context and deliver relevancy that drives repeatable action.

Most importantly, iterate and optimize often. A well established brand can weather a few creative missteps; the key is to stay on the pulse of the market, and in tune with your customers, so that you are poised to act quickly — and relevantly.

Q: Jelly Labs appears to me to be your branding for “testing the total package.” Can you describe the concept of Jelly as you relate it to marketing?

A: Marketers — especially interactive marketers — are continually striving for ‘stickiness,’ or ways to keep their brand top-of-mind, promote ongoing consumption of their products or services, and encourage return site visits. In order to achieve those things, your creative must be aligned with your strategy, your communications must work congruently across platforms, and above all, you must speak ‘user-ese’ to formulate compelling, resonant messaging. I built Jelly Labs as a creative development and research hub focused solely on user behavior/interaction and brand stickiness to cement relationships and campaigns. What I affectionately term ‘social scientists’ monitor brand activity, test campaign efficacy, trend watch, isolate key behaviors and take an empirical approach to evaluating the marketing efforts we employ. And very often, additional tactics are added to the mix as a result of their findings, creating a continuous loop of actionable activity around a measurable goal. It also serves as an effective means of developing best practices in offering evidence-based solutions for clients.

Q: I have read over at triplepundit.com that “Gennefer’s commitment to green living, sustainability and social change is at the core of all of her initiatives – both professionally and personally.” Why did you make the decision to have an ecological impact in your plan, and what types of things do you do to support it?

A: I believe in giving back, not only to preserve and sustain the planet on which we live, but to help others benefit from the success that I have been fortunate enough to have. I aspire for social good and subscribe to a pay-it-forward philosophy that allows for knowledge sharing and keeps the greater good in focus. As such, my business practices are centered not only on minimzing adverse affects on the environment and reducing my carbon footprint, but creating ongoing opportunities for social change. I give a percentage of revenue from all client campaigns to the charitable organization of their choosing, so that they feel a personal connection to the cause, and utilize my network to coordinate volunteer opportunities for associations lacking sufficient resources. I also offer pro bono strategic services and tactical planning for nonprofits. In addition, I am in the process of launching a few philanthropically-motivated start ups, one of which is called Philanthrofoodie™, a charitable venture designed to spark social change through shared food experiences. Through the collective power of conscious entrepreneurs and companies committed to social change, the potential impact that we could make on important issues facing our world are vast and significant. I want to be part of that change and am dedicated to championing this mindset and encouraging a paradigm shift toward social responsibility among enterprise to help make a tangible difference in the world. My two series for Triple Pundit, ‘Conversations in Cause Marketing’ and ‘Philanthropy in Five’ are also both aimed at doing that by spotlighting socially responsible companies who are effectively engaging in cause marketing and employing conscious strategies as a blueprint for others in making this the standard way of conducting business.

Q: You are a brilliant writer, tell us how you developed those skills and what this article’s readers can do to improve there own.

A: I’ve been writing since I was a small child. I’ve just always been drawn to words, and the inspiration and emotion that a series of intricately woven phrases can elicit and convey. I find language intoxicating, so writing is a natural extension of that. I fine tuned my skills by doing a lot of reading, and just by writing itself. I think to be proficient at anything, it takes practice — and persistence. Not all of us are Mozart, and can compose a symphony on the first attempt. If you resolve to be good at something, you need to invest the time and effort to cultivate those skills. Being the grammar nerd that I am, those seeking to improve the mechanics of their writing must read Strunk & White’s ‘Elements of Style’ and I highly recommend Stephen King’s ‘On Writing,’ a surprisingly touching and witty autobiography-slash-guide-for-aspiring novelists that has a wealth of vivid and thought-provoking content for any writer. But above all, the best thing you can do to improve your writing is to be real, and share a piece of yourself with your reader — whether it’s a blog post or a business plan. Passion always trumps a series of superlatives and crafty words on a page, so always be sure there’s substance behind them.

Q: Enough business, What does Gennefer do for fun?

A: As an entrepreneur and principal partner of several companies with a few start ups in the works as well, ‘fun’ is definitely at a premium. But I’m fortunate in that I absolutely love what I do, and for the most part, the round-the-clock hours, 7 days a week doesn’t feel like work. Any free time that I do have is spent with my family, which is my number one priority, although I have been known to end a particularly grueling day with a rigorous game of Wii Tennis!

5 Questions with….Lee Odden

February 24, 2009
Posted under Interviews
0
remarks



Lee Odden - Top Rank Marketing

Lee Odden - Top Rank Marketing


Your bio indicates you are a speaker and a trainer, when those opportunities come along what topics do you find your customers most interested in?

There are 3 situations in which I perform speaking or training tasks. The first is speaking at conferences like Pubcon, Search Engine Strategies, DMA or PRSA events. Blogging, social networking and speaking at events pretty much makes up the bulk of our marketing efforts. Topics at conferences tend to focus on what will draw attendees and what conferences have come to associate TopRank with: SEO and public relations, blogging, social media and online reputation management.

I also get hired to speak or do training for certain conferences or associations such as the Direct Marketing Association with the Search Engine Marketing Certification program, or the 2-day Social Media Smarts workshop.

The third type of speaking or training event I’m often involved with is when companies want to bring someone in to speak at a company event on up and coming topics and strategic focus for search, PR and social media or to do in-house training of interdepartmental teams.

You have often pointed out the necessity of having good fresh content on your blog. Have you ever had writers block? What options does a blogger have when they just can’t seem to focus?

Writers block rears its ugly head a lot more often than people think. I’ve been actively blogging for over 5 years and sometimes it’s not just writers block, but a time and resource issue. TopRankMarketing.com is a respected company and we’re pretty busy. That makes me busy and sometimes spending the kind of time I would prefer on writing and researching a post simply isn’t available.

The way to get around focus or time issues is to be proactive. I keep 10-20 draft posts in our blog at any given time. Rather than sitting down and writing a 1000 word post in one sitting, which still happens at 3 am from time to time, I add to them over time. That makes it a bit easier from a resource standpoint. We also do regular features which are easier posts to do, but also things people look forward to such as reviewing SEO blogs each week, running Reader Polls, interviews or crowd sourced posts from Twitter and LinkedIn.

We know Search Engines are always changing there dynamics and because of this Web Marketing companies always have to be on there toes. I preach that being interactive online is at least equally as important as SEO. What do you think? And what should we watch for in the SEO future?

Yes, being social online is very important as a standalone marketing activity but also because the byproduct of being social creates content. That content might get passed around, attract links and motivate bloggers and journalists to write about you.

As long as web developers keep making web sites that don’t play well with search engines, there will always be a need for SEO as its traditionally defined. What I think you’ll find after talking to other long time SEO consultants is that keyword expertise and pull marketing insight is invaluable in many other online marketing disciplines ranging from public relations to social media. Anything that can be searched on can be optimized. As long as people can search, there will be a need to SEO.

Future SEO is taking more of a well rounded approach to marketing online rather than focusing exclusively on standard search engine rankings. Everything from Universal search to personalized to social search makes what was previously a 2 or three dimensional discipline a multidimensional expertise.

If I was starting a new e-commerce site today with some SEO friendly features already built in, what software should I be considering?

The answer to that question needs some budget insight first. A 500 product store online has different needs than a store with 5 million SKUs. The fundamental features to look for are: unique and editable title tags & meta description tags, ability to include descriptive text on top level category pages, sub category pages and of course, individual product pages, dynamic population of alt text on images, intuitive URLs, flat site architecture – avoid too many levels deep, ability to export HTML and XML site map files automatically, and many, many others.

Also, no matter what, an ecommerce site can benefit via SEO with a blog. Ecommerce site blogs can present new products, tips on using products, solicit customer generated content, run promotions and offer product support information.

What do you do when you have some spare time to yourself? Any hobbies?

Spare time? What’s that? I spend as much time as I can with my 3 little musketeers plus a bit of travel, cooking, working out, watching movies, games, some sports and gadgets.

Getting to know An Bui – @anwith1n

February 20, 2009
Posted under Interviews
2
remarks



An Bui

An Bui

There are many people that use Twitter for many different reasons, getting to know others, education, sharing information. How do you get the most out of Twitter and what do you hope to accomplish?

I use tweetdeck to manage my @replies, direct messages, and grouping people. I try to help as many people as I can on Twitter – if people are looking for something or wanting to know something, I jump in if I think I can help. I want good ideas to spread and to learn new things. This ongoing learning and sharing cycle is a ride I want to stay on.

Tell us where you are from and what you do for a living?

I’m from all over – I grew up in Texas but my time on the East Coast really shaped my thinking and approach to the world. As far as what I do for a living, that’s an interesting question. I’m a consultant – I work with organizations to identify ways they can communicate value, both internally and externally. An engagement may look like connecting a company to its users and potential users by teaching them how to connect using blogging, twitter, and other relevant social media tools. Another engagement may look like helping teams within an organization communicate value to other teams within that same organization. The end result are teams that understand how their work fits in the larger context of the organization, are more collaborative, and are more efficient.

Do you know others who use Social Media tools like Twitter in your area? What would you say about the knowledge of people in your area about Social Media in general?

In Seattle, social media tools (including Twitter) are pretty popular, so you end up seeing a broad range of knowledge. There are people who are aware of social media in general, due to the start up and technology culture of Seattle. Actual deep tissue knowledge may vary, so it depends on background. People from a PR background understand social media differently than those from an entrepreneurial background whose understanding differs from those with an information design background… it really depends on the context.

What gets you really motivated and excited?

I wake up in the morning to help others discover how new technologies can improve their lives, understand how collaboration can enable them to achieve greater things, discover new ideas and how to integrate them in new ways to solve problems.

Give us one crazy fact about yourself you haven’t already shared.

Define crazy ;)

I have bus friends, grocery store friends, coffee shop friends, random sidewalk friends… I tend to make friends everywhere. One of my favorite random friends I met because we sat next to each other on a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle. We had such a great time talking about our lives and the lessons we’ve learned from the experiences we’ve had, I was actually disappointed when the plane landed.

Any other tidbits you would like to offer?

One of my favorite books is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. I read it at a time I was going through personal and professional transitions and found its message highly relevant. Since then, I’ll re-read passages when I want to remind myself how lucky I am to pursue my dreams and fortunate I am to be passionate about the work I do and the clients I work with.

Coelho wrote: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” The universe has brought me people like you, my family, great friends, (Emily, Daren, Sarah, Taki, Jared, Kirk, Chelle and Blake), amazing professional mentors (Andrew, Jim Benson and Mack Collier) who have contributed, and still contribute, greatly to my life.

I’ll leave you with this thought – “Nothing great in the world was accomplished without passion.” – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

5 Questions with….Mediaphyter, Jennifer Leggio

February 16, 2009
Posted under Interviews
5
remarks



Mediaphyter - Jennifer Leggio

Mediaphyter - Jennifer Leggio


You work at Fortinet as the Director of Strategic Communications. Network Security is important to me, as my company sells network security products and services. How have you used your position to increase SMB awareness about the concerns of properly securing themselves?

Fortinet’s expansive product portfolio includes enterprise firewalls, security solutions for MSSPs and telco carriers, database security and email security appliances in addition to our SMB offering. Therefore I need to spread the love across all of our different market segments and I personally spend a lot of time focusing on enterprise deployment scenarios. Our marcom and product marketing teams, however, do a great job of creating tools (speakers and events, road shows, etc.) and collateral for our channel partners who sell to the SMB. Also, I think it’s important to clarify that digital media is only about 10 percent of my current job. I spend the largest chunks of my time managing global industry analyst relations and working with our threat research teams on their communications.

You are blogging for ZDNet, what topics do you cover there and how do you get the interviews? Are they arranged for you or do you pursue them?

I write about what I like to call “social business.” Which basically means I try to find companies — preferably Fortune 500 or enterprise tech companies — who are doing interesting things and benefiting from implementing some sort of social program. I also write a touch about social media and security as well as public relations challenges in this social media world. I arrange all of my own interviews and develop my own content calendar. Our editors are great. They give us guidance when we need it and might make some suggestions for site-wide story packages, but they trust us to produce the best work we know how.

In an article about your new tattoo, you describe this as somewhat of a personal overture to allow yourself the ability to become more transparent. Specifically to allow your personal and professional lives to be a bit more intertwined. For those fighting the same battle, why choose to do it and how have you benefited?

It’s a personal decision. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone to do or not to do it. I personally find it very natural to just be one person in all places. You can ask anyone I’ve ever worked with or worked for, I march to the beat of my own drum and I embrace my personality no matter where I am. There is no “buttoned up Jen” and “casual Jen.” They are the same person. I found it exhausting to even try to attempt that and doing all of this social media stuff gave me a reason and an avenue for further melding everything together. There are still bumps and hurdles along the way. It can be stressful living so transparently at times. But I’ve also mastered the art of privacy in a world of transparency. Like I said, this is the benefit I experienced, but everyone needs to make this decision for him- or herself. A lot also depends on your company culture, too. If you work for a financial services firm or you’re in a legal profession, you’re going to think more deeply than a marketing girl who also writes about this kind of stuff on a daily basis.

I am a total metal-head, and come to find out, that’s your thing as well. Give us your top 3 favorite bands and what you like about them the most.

I am a metal fan but I am not a total metalhead. My more metal friends would laugh if they saw you call me that. I listen to everything but I do have a soft spot in my heart for metal and nothing — I mean nothing — gets me moving more than a good rock band. I’m taking the liberty of expanding this to metal / rock versus just metal:

TOOL – Have you ever heard that bass line about two-thirds of the way into “Eulogy”? Every time I hear that I am convinced I could die happy. Pun intended.Yet I feel that way about most TOOL songs.

30 Seconds to Mars – This band is a lyrical pleasure for me though I definitely enjoy the music. This is also one of those bands I feel compelled to point out that I loved before they got all popular and eyeliner-ish. If you don’t believe me you can ask my friend Hillary. We drove all the way to Santa Barbara about six years ago just to catch them with a favorite local band of mine called Strata.

System of a Down – I’m a sucker for political / movement rock. I never really got die-hard about Rage Against the Machine but SOAD, especially the “Toxicity” album, gets me in the heart. I can say the same for Serj Tankian’s current solo work. I can’t say the same for Daron Malakian’s Scars on Broadway. I want my SOAD back.

Ties for fourth? As I Lay Dying / Lamb of God/ Killswitch Engage / Static X / Dimmu Borgir / The Booda Velvets (I know you didn’t ask but I feel empty not saying something about them)

What do you find to be the most compelling reasons to personally brand yourself, even if you are working for another brand?

If you make the decision to develop a personal brand, I think it’s necessary to make sure it is removed from your corporate brand to some extent. Why? Because you can take that with you to your next company, of course. Look at Richard Binhammer of Dell as one great example. Everyone knows him as Dell’s “social media guy.” He wears the Dell brand proudly. However, we know him first as Richard and, heaven forbid, if he ever leaves Dell his brand will carry him. If he was merely “Dell Guy” then he’d have to start from scratch in his next gig. I also believe, and it’s been proven, that companies benefit from having a more human element associated with their external corporate culture. The years of a company being identified by merely its assigned spokesperson or executive team are over. Every employee can be a voice for his or her company now — you just have to mind your corporate policies and make sure what you can do and how loudly you can do it.

Note from Craig: If you enjoyed this interview, you might also enjoy an interview I had done previously with Mack Collier! Please leave comments if something moves you, if you have some thoughts, or you have an opinion or question. Thanks for Reading!

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