NOTE: The term "collateral" nowadays refers to blogs, podcasts, and vidcasts – NOT just "printed/traditional" collateral materials.

In this episode Lisa learns the results of San Francisco-based Eccolo Media's recent B2B Technology Collateral Survey. And Eccolo's President, Lorie Loe, shares what best practices and strategies were revealed for effectively reaching and influencing technology purchasers.

Listen in as Lisa asks the following questions and gets great insights from Lorie:

1.) Tell me about the B2B technology collateral survey that you conducted?What was the inspiration behind that? Who participated in the survey? What kind of information/intelligence were you hoping to obtain from them?

2.) Give me an example of a survey result that surprised you.

3.) The survey really highlights some of the trends emerging in how technology purchasers are consuming content. How do those emerging trends impact a really traditional piece that you’ll fine in B2B technology marketing, like the white paper?

4.) What kinds of best practices were you able to derive from your survey results?

In this unique episode, Lisa interviews Cindy Campbell and Heather Connors, co-authors of the popular book, "Awakening Social Responsibility: A Call To Action", and they are also the co-founders of the Human Connexus Foundation (.org).

Their guidebook was written to advise individuals and corporations about how to get involved in causes that matter. And renowned topic experts and authors, Peter Block, Marshall Goldsmith and Hunter Lovins, have all endorsed this book as an excellent handbook for transforming organizations. In this interview, Cindy & Heather not only share amazing examples of Corporate Social Responsibility programs different companies have implemented, but also explain how they have piggy-backed their CSR efforts with effective brand-building campaigns.

Here is a snapshot of the questions Lisa asks:
1.) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not a new concept and many companies have been "doing good" for some time. But recently CSR has started to get more attention. Why do you think this is happening?

2.) With so many areas of need to choose from, how does a company decide on the right Corporate Social Responsibility program to implement?

3.) Corporate Social Responsibility is a broad topic. In what areas are we seeing the most movement and attention?

4.) How do you think CSR is changing the face of business today?

5.) Why do you think it is important for marketing executives to incorporate CSR programs into their business strategy?

In this episode listen in as Lisa interviews the Principal of KL Consulting, Ms. Karilee Wirthlin – a leading website strategy consultant whose passion for user-centered design helps companies build websites that get the kind of bottom line results they expect. While that may sound like a simple proposition, we know it can end up being a complex and costly journey! But in this info-packed episode you’ll learn some practical tips to avoid costly design and development decisions on your company's next web project.

Lisa asks Karilee:

• What is a user-centered website, and how do you know if yours is not?
• In the current economic environment, what are cost-effective ways to gather user feedback during the design process?
• How can you incorporate user feedback into the design and development process as efficiently as possible?
• What is the cost of not involving users in the design process?
• How can social media be leveraged in the design process?

Click now to get all the answers!

This episode diverts a bit from Lisa's normal "corporate" marketing focus, and offers GREAT tips and solutions for entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking ways to increase their sales during this challenging economic time.

Many SMB's are struggling to land new clients nowadays, AND have limited marketing budgets, so Lisa asked 20-year marketing expert, Sherry Prescott-Willis, and author of the new book, "Market This! An Effective 90-Day Marketing Tool", to share advice we can all benefit from.

Listen in as Sherry describes her unique new book (it is DIFFERENT from all the other "how to" marketing books out there!) and how it can benefit your business and marketing efforts...FAST!

Then Sherry offers great tips you can use to get more from your existing customers and land new ones...even on a limited marketing budget.

So, check out this episode today. Whether you're an entrepreneur with a tech startup, or the owner of a small flower shop, you WILL benefit from this episode!

Check out Lisa's interesting interview with Linda Popky, President of L2M Associates, a marketing firm in Silicon Valley, about the marketing and branding lessons we can all learn from the Obama Presidential campaign. This was one of the most amazing brand launches of our time!

President Elect Barack Obama went from being virtually unknown outside of IL and DC a mere 24 months ago, to being our first African American President!

Linda shares insights all marketers can takeaway from this well orchestrated, and well executed, marketing campaign. Listen in as Lisa asks:

1. A presidential election, held only once every four years, is very different than marketing a product or service. Why should marketing professionals be so interested in what happened during a presidential campaign?

2. You’ve compared the Obama campaign to a major brand launch. Why?

3. Tell us about a few of the marketing strategies that were executed well by the Obama campaign.

4. How important was the combination of media used by the Obama team to the candidate’s success?

5. What innovative marketing strategies might we see implemented from a President Barack Obama?

6. What key lessons can we, as marketers, take away for our own marketing campaigns, particularly in this turbulent economy?

Developing an effective name for your new company or product is critical to building your brand. But what goes into it??? And how do you come up with one that works for you, not against you?? In this episode, Lisa interviews 20-year naming pro, Steve Cecil, on the ins & outs of creating an effective name, and what you need to watch out for.

Steve has handled over 500 naming projects: from shoes to shampoos, from gum to rum, from soft drinks to software! And just this year alone he developed over 30,000 unduplicated candidate names for 77 different ad agencies and clients. Steve knows naming!

Listen in as Lisa asks:

1. How important is a brand name?

2. How do you know if you need a new name?

3. What are some names you like, and why; also some names you don’t like, and why?

4. What’s the process you take clients through?

5. What are some of the biggest challenges companies face when choosing a name today?

In this exclusive interview, Lisa talks to Winn Claybaugh, Dean & Co-Founder of Paul Mitchell The School. Winn and his partner, John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of the $960 million hair and beauty products company, Paul Mitchell Systems, have extended the Paul Mitchell brand into the leading beauty college chain in the U.S.

So, what's "behind the bottle"? Winn tells Lisa all about the unique external marketing and branding strategies they have used (and currently use) to build their booming company. He also shares the unique "internal" branding methodologies that have created a corporate culture for success-building (for their executive team, managers, instructors and students).

Regardless of the industry your company is in, YOU WILL LEARN A TON from Winn's business & marketing acumen.

LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW TODAY! It's entertaining & info-packed!

Don't miss Part Two of this 2-part series about how to effectively add mobile media strategies to your marketing efforts. Lisa interviews Jim Brown, Director of Silverback Media, a leading expert on mobile marketing, on the ins & outs of how to use this new technology to improve your marketing ROI.

In Part Two of their series, Lisa asks:

1. What are some of the questions that should be asked leading up to the development of a mobile service?

2. What would be the process or steps in launching a program or campaign?

3. What are some general guidelines for launching a mobile service or campaign?

4. What are some quick tips marketers should remember when launching a mobile marketing program?

Jim answers these questions PLUS shares real examples of how companies are using mobile media in their campaigns!

Lisa kicks off a 2-part series with mobile marketing guru, Jim Brown of SIlverback Media Inc (Silverback-Media.com). You'll learn about the nuances of mobile marketing and how to create a marketing strategy to reach your existing or potential customers through their mobile phones. And this goes way beyond creating a basic text campaign!

Here are just some of the questions Lisa will ask Jim in this 2-part series:

1. Can you give us a brief overview of complexities to be aware of?

2. Can you give us some recent stats that show how big the mobile market is growing in terms of it being used as a marketing tool?

3. What is the ideal approach one should take in looking at using mobile as a part of their overall marketing strategy?

4. What are some of the questions that should be asked leading up to the development of a mobile service?

5. What would be the process or steps in launching a program or campaign?

6. What are some general guidelines for launching a mobile service or campaign?

7. What are some of the tips marketers should remember when launching a mobile marketing program?

Check-out this interesting episode to learn about out-of-the-box guerilla marketing techniques that have companies like CareerBuilder.com, Moxi DVR and Volvo getting great results! Lisa's guest, Tom Burkhardt of Clamchowder Entertainment, shares creative ideas that can give your tradeshows, product launches and brand building efforts a new twist.

Listen in as Tom tells Lisa:

1. How can brand ambassadors and street teams get you the PR "buzz" and web traffic you've been hoping for!

2. Unique ideas that can make your next tradeshow attendance a huge success!

3. How creative text messaging strategies can be used to generate awareness, and why it's not just targeted at kids anymore!

Visit their site for even more info:
http://www.clamchowderentertainment.com/

Lisa interviews Jess Wells, video marketing expert, and part of the team who built a web-based TV program for a well-known company, and it won its 6th Telly Award! She advises companies of all sizes on how to integrate video into their marketing mix as a tool that gets results!

Check out this popular episode where Lisa asks:

1. How popular has the use of video become by companies as a marketing tool?

2. Can you provide some examples of how companies are using it?

3. What are things a company needs to consider before using video?

4. How can it be used as a lead-generation tool?

5. How does a company get started?

In this episode, Lisa brings back Deb Siegle, Principal of Strategic Marketing Solutions. Her company is a marketing and service consulting company that specializes in effective marketing, research, customer loyalty experiences, and product development and management.

Deb's previous interviews on Marketing Matters With M7 were big hits, so Lisa brings her back again! This time they discuss how the appropriate research can reveal new marketing and strategic insights into your customers, products and brand!

Here's a snapshot of the questions Lisa asks:

1. Why is this topic is important to executives? And what would execs most want to know from the marketplace or their customers?

2. What are some of the methods execs can use to uncover these insights from the marketplace?

3. How can companies do this effectively?

4. What tips can you share for execs on how best to listen & translate, so that they get the most actionable results?

Don't miss this episode!

Lisa conducts an entertaining and interesting interview with world-renowned speaker, author, VC and marketing guru, Guy Kawasaki! Learn all about his new venture, Alltop.com, his latest startup investments, his views on social media, and the hilarious statue a fan erected in his honor!

Although Lisa & Guy go off on a lot of unexpected tangents, here is a snapshot of questions they discuss:

1. What is your latest project?

2. How can a marketing professional use a resource like this?

3. What does it mean for companies that produce news and reviews?

4. How can large companies utilize social media?

5. Care to share any new start-ups Garage Technology Ventures has funded and/or new sectors you’re looking more into?

In this episode Lisa interviews Tsufit, the founder of Follow That Dream and the author of the new book "Step Into the Spotlight! A Guide to Getting Noticed!”. Her new book has been endorsed by leading business and marketing experts such as: Tom Peters, Al Ries and Jack Trout. She is also a coach who specializes in coaching entrepreneurs to promote and publicize their dream business. And Tsufit coaches corporate executives on how to perform dazzling infomercials for networking functions and how to add sparkle to their presentations.

Listen in as Tsufit provides tips on how we can help the brands we represent (including our personal brands!) stand out and get noticed in a noisy marketplace. Lisa gets answers to:

1. What’s the most important thing business can learn from the world of show business?

2. What are the 3 most common mistakes corporate marketing professionals make?

3. What can business learn from the world of show business?

4. Why story telling so important in business?

5. Why are some marketing professionals hesitant to employ show biz tactics?

6. What are some examples of companies and/or executives successfully employing show business tactics to stand out from their competition?

In this episode we cover a unique topic that is actually a combo of 2 very hot topics in corporate marketing these days: “green blogging”. This combines blogging with corporate social responsibility, but what does this mean to you as a corporate marketing professional?

Lisa's interview will tell you! Her guest, Elisa Camahort, is the co-founder and COO of BlogHer, managing its events, marketing and corporate operations. A marketing executive with 17 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Elisa left her life in high tech product management to go online and join the social media world, and to help companies go there too.

Listen in to hear Elisa's answers to the following questions:

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your green blogging, and how you initially got into it?

2. How has your experiences being a green blogger been unique from some more, general blogging you’ve done?

3. What are some ground rules marketers should keep in mind when engaging with bloggers, and in particular green bloggers?

4. As green technology becomes more integrated in society and a basis for social change, how much impact do you see green blogging realistically having?

5. If you could share with our listeners one story about how green blogging has resulted in a real outcome in regards to people taking a green initiative, what would that be?

6. The BlogHer community now consists of more than 8.3 million unique visitors per month, and more than 36 million page views a month by the end of December 2007. How have you seen green blogging evolve as a part of this community?

7. BlogHer is continuing its annual conference this year with BlogHer ’08, as well as some additional events hosted by the community. Would you mind telling us a little bit more about them and if you have any green initiatives planned?

Social networks are all the rage right now, with Facebook topping 50 million members, MySpace heading toward 200 million and new social networks springing up all over the place. But how big of an opportunity is this for marketers? Lisa finds out in this episode in her interview with Paul Gillin: author of The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media and the new book, Secrets of Social Media Marketing (due in Fall/08).

Listen in as Lisa gets Paul's insights about:

- Why social networks are so popular right now?
- How can marketers take advantage of them?
- Are the procedures for engaging with people on social networks different from blogs? How so?
- It's a very crowded and chaotic market right now. What do you think the future holds for social networks?

In this unique episode, Lisa interviews Cindy Campbell and Heather Connors, co-authors of the new book, "Awakening Social Responsibility: A Call To Action", and they are also the co-founders of the Human Connexus Foundation (.org). Their guidebook was written to advise individuals and corporations about how to get involved in causes that matter. And renowned topic experts and authors, Peter Block, Marshall Goldsmith and Hunter Lovins, have all endorsed this book as an excellent handbook for transforming organizations.

In this interview, Cindy & Heather not only share amazing examples of Corporate Social Responsibility programs different companies have implemented, but also explain how they have piggy-backed their CSR efforts with effective brand-building campaigns. Here is a snapshot of the questions Lisa asks:

1.) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not a new concept and many companies have been "doing good" for some time. But recently CSR has started to get more attention. Why do you think this is happening?

2.) With so many areas of need to choose from, how does a company decide on the right Corporate Social Responsibility program to implement?

3.) Corporate Social Responsibility is a broad topic. In what areas are we seeing the most movement and attention?

4.) How do you think CSR is changing the face of business today?

5.) Why do you think it is important for marketing executives to incorporate CSR programs into their business strategy?

Listen to Part Two of this interesting and info-packed interview with Beth Weesner, President of Marketing Transformtation Services and author of the book: "The MRM Guide: Optimizing Marketing Investments" (due out in 2008). Beth has advised well known companies on MRM, such as: HP, Intel, eBay, IBM and many others...it's time for you to learn all about it!

Here is just a sample of what Lisa & Beth will discuss in this episode:

1. Recap of Part One and overview of MRM

2. What is strategic assessment?

3. Is there a method to gain consensus on MRM priorities and scope?

4. What do you suggest companies use to guide the initiative?

5. What are things to avoid?

Lisa is kicking off another 2-part series with an expert that will teach you the ins & outs of MRM (Marketing Resource Management). Listen in as Beth Weesner, Founder & CEO of Marketing Transformation Services and author of "The MRM Guide: Optimizing Marketing Investments", explains the importance of MRM to your company's marketing success.

Well-known companies like HP, Intel, eBay, Sprint and REI are implementing MRM so it's time for you to understand it, too!

In Part One, Lisa asks all the basics:

1. What is MRM?

2. What types of companies are implementing it? Is MRM for companies of most any size or just big corporations?

3. Is MRM the new buzzword for CRM?

4. Can you share some lessons learned from your client's MRM initiatives?

5. What problems can a company solve by implementing an MRM initiative?

If you missed Part One, download it today! It is packed with great info that any corporate marketing exec needs to know about.

Now, in Part Two of the series, Lisa and her guest, Paul Gillin, discuss what marketers should be doing to become familiar with, and engage with, the new influencers of social media. This is big stuff that is changing our world and making us rethink our marketing strategies drastically, so YOU need to understand the new world of Social Media. It’s not going away! 

Paul Gillin is the author of "The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media" so you will learn a lot from his expertise. In this episode Lisa asks:

1.) What should marketers be doing right now to get up to speed on Web 2.0?
2.) How do you think these trends will affect the way we plan, budget and execute marketing campaigns in the future?
3.) Looking down the road five years, what do you think the media landscape will look like?

In Part One of this cutting-edge series, Lisa will be interviewing Mr. Paul Gillin, author of the hit book, "The New Influencers: A Marketers Guide to the New Social Media"! Listen in as they explore the basic types of social media - blogs, podcasts, social networks and online video - and clearly describe the characteristics of each and how they are being used, and can be used, to improve your corporate marketing efforts.

Paul's book is getting big raves and mass media coverage by such respected media as The Wall Street Journal, BBC Radio, the San Jose Mercury News, and BtoB Magazine just to name a few.

So don't miss this important 2-part series with a well-known guru on a topic every corporate marketing professional needs to understand!

If your internal PR team or outside PR agency does NOT know how to create SEO press releases, your company is missing out on MASSIVE online coverage.

On this exciting episode, Lisa interviews Bill Gram-Reefer, President of WorldView PR & SEO. His company delivers traditional and internet-based media relations results with a special focus on creating search-engine optimized press releases that are highly visible on the Internet.

Here’s just a SMALL sample of what they discuss:

1. Why do PR online at all? What's the advantage?
2. What exactly is SEO-PR?
3. How can marketers make their online PR more visible? What are some basics and strategies?
4. What are some free or inexpensive resources where people can go to learn more about this cutting-edge strategy?

Check out Part Two of Lisa's interesting interview with Linda Popky, President of L2M Associates! Today they talk all about how you can truly build the marketing capability and competency within your company. This is what you'll learn:

1. Why is it so important for organizations to increase their marketing capabilities?
2. How do marketing competency and capability tie into organizational success?
3. What are some best practices top organizations use to build marketing competency?
4. What can marketing managers do to build their own organizations’ capabilities?
5. How can marketing employees improve own capabilities, and therefore their own careers?

Lisa conducts another in-depth 2 Part mini series! This time her guest is Linda Popky, President of L2M Associates. In this episode they discuss a topic that is important to most ANY corporate marketing professional: "How to Effectively Measure Your Marketing ROI"!

Your CFO and CEO want to know if that marketing budget they've given you is being put to good use!

In this episode you'll learn:

1. Why would organizations want to measure return on marketing?
2. Is ROI or ROMI the key metric for marketing organizations? What other metrics should be considered?
3. How important is it to use tools like marketing dashboards?
4. What are some of the key factors to keep in mind when implementing a marketing measurement program?
5. What are some of the typical challenges faced in implementation?

DON'T MISS PART 2 LATER IN JULY! THE TOPIC IS: "How Your Company Can Build Its Marketing Capability and Competency"!

Check out Part Two of Lisa's interview with Deb Siegle! In this episode they discuss the ins & outs of Retention Marketing. Deb is the President of Strategic Marketing Solutions, a marketing consulting company that specializes in effective customer loyalty/experiences and product development and management. In this episode you'll learn:

1. What is retention marketing?
2. What would a company facing significant customer loss do first? How do they retain more of their customers?
3. What components or activities does a successful retention strategy include?
4. Let’s drill down more on some specific retention marketing actions and implementation methods or tools companies can use to increase retention.
5. What’s changed? What do we need to do today on retention? What’s different than it used to be?

In Part One of Lisa's in-depth series with Deb Siegle, they discuss marketing strategies for Building Customer Loyalty. Deb is the President of Strategic Marketing Solutions, a marketing consulting company that specializes in effective customer loyalty/experiences and product development and management.

And don't miss Part Two of the mini-series when they tackle Retention Marketing!

In this episode you'll learn:

1. What really is customer loyalty?
2. Why should any marketing executive invest a company’s time, focus, or dollars on loyalty building efforts?
3. Isn’t customer loyalty just a natural result of customer satisfaction?
4. How do companies uncover their customers’ loyalty drivers?
5. How does a company or marketing executive assess if what they’re doing is creating loyalty?
6. So what are some of the most important things companies can do to create loyal customers?

In Part Two of this 2-part mini-series with Lee Raney, President of Pivot Point Strategies (an international sales and marketing consulting firm), Lisa interviews her about another hot topic and gets answers to the following questions:

1: What is “Global Marketing IQ”?

2: What can be done on an organizational level to raise your Global Marketing IQ?

3: What can be done on an individual level to raise your Global Marketing IQ?

4: What are some "Best Practice" examples of the of the globally successful?

5: What are the beginning steps for the marketing people listening today?

6: How about a startup company? What can they be thinking about in terms of marketing globally?

In Part One of this 2-part mini series Lisa interviews Lee Raney, President of Pivot Point Strategies, an international sales and marketing consulting firm, and gets great answers to the following questions:

1: There is a stereotypical divide between sales and marketing in most companies (large & small), but did you know that it can actually inhibit your company's revenue growth?
2: What can be done to change that?
3: What are some examples of the “Best Practices” around aligning sales and marketing?
4: How does this relate to the marketing professionals who are listening to today’s podcast?
5: What are the initial steps they can take to more closely align the two departments?
6: What can a start-up who is still in product development mode take away from this idea of aligning sales and marketing?

Check-out this interesting episode to learn about out-of-the-box guerilla marketing techniques that have companies like CareerBuilder.com, Moxi DVR and Volvo getting great results! Lisa's guest, Tom Burkhardt of Clamchowder Entertainment, shares creative ideas that can give your tradeshows, product launches and brand building efforts a new twist. Listen in as Tom tells Lisa:

1. How Brand Ambassadors and Street Teams can get you the PR "buzz" and web traffic you've been hoping for!

2. Unique ideas that can make your next tradeshow attendance a huge success!

3. How creative text messaging strategies can be used to generate awareness, and why it's not just targeted at kids anymore!

4. NOTE: We apologize for the background static which is in the recording for a few minutes. We were unable to remove it in post production.

Don’t miss this episode! Listen in as Lisa discusses a cutting edge direct marketing strategy with her colleague, 15-year Silicon Valley marketing veteran, Sherry Prescott-Willis. YOU WILL LEARN:

1. Why companies like Intel®, HP®, Hyperion® and Xerox® have seen response rates over 5% and upwards of 400% campaign ROI using this exact DM technique.

2. How even startups on limited budgets can use this state-of-the-art DM strategy and get above average results.

3. The details of this DM strategy and how you can apply it to branding campaigns, lead gen/demand gen campaigns, channel marketing, event promotions and more!

4. Why 75% of marketing professionals surveyed by 1:1 Magazine, using this same DM technique, reported an immediate increase in response rates AND sales.

In this episode Lisa interviews Jennifer Berkley, President of The Insight
Advantage – a hot research company. You'll learn WHY tapping into customers for input is so critical for creating effective marketing strategies, and she'll provide tips on HOW to tap into them. Jennifer answers:

1. Why is getting customer input (from both internal AND external customers) important to marketing groups?

2. How can a marketing group decide the best tools or methodologies to use for gathering customer input?

3. What are some of the resources available for marketing groups to do web surveys themselves, and how do they choose the best one for their needs?

4. How many customers does a marketing group need to talk to in order to have a big enough sample?

5. How can marketing groups get customers to provide them with input?

In this info-packed episode Lisa interviews Johnny Mansour, co-founder of Podomatic...a valuable vendor for podcast hosting and traffic generation programs. Listen to Johnny offer great insight on:

1. Options for hosting your corporate podcasts
2. Creating SEO programs to promote your company's podcast show
3. Effective ways to build online traffic to your company's podcasts

In this episode Lisa interviews M7's Chief Podcast Strategist, John C. Havens, about his visit to the Podcast & Portable Media Expo. He gives us all the inside scoop on what was hot at the show. You'll find out::

1. What are the latest trends in podcasting?

2. What new applications should corporate marketers be excited about?

3. What are some of the new podcasting technologies available?

4. And more!

In this loaded "double feature" premier episode, Lisa and John answer the following questions:

1. What are some unique ways marketing professionals in corporate can utilize podcasting right now?

2. Where is the real ROI in podcasting?

3. Why are some companies shying away from podcasting when it's such a powerful tool?

4. How can companies ensure that their podcast shows are actually getting listened to?

5. How can corporate marketing professionals create solid content for their podcast shows?