Ponderings From The Perch

Travel. Exotic food. Cultural research. Obscure musical instruments. The areas of overlapping interest in a Venn diagram between Priscilla and Andrew Kuiler, founder and CEO of The Silk Initiative are so abundant that we might actually need a larger diagram. In this episode, Priscilla and Andrew discuss how The Silk Initiative - brand insight, strategy and innovation firm - uses their specialized knowledge and custom research to provide detailed consulting for the international food and beverage industry.Along the way, they also talk about travel, their favorite snack foods, and Andrew's favorite food cities - those include Myanmar, Israel, Melbourne, Toronto and New York City. Most importantly, they discuss their love of unconventional musical instruments - Priscilla's autoharp may not be quite as loud as Andrew's bagpipes, but the collective musical clout has effectively raised the bar for all future podcast guests. Andrew's fave podcast:   Masters of Scale podcast - Reid HoffmanAndrew's fave book

You’d have to be pretty stone cold not to miss Austin as soon as you got to the city limits. That’s how Priscilla, Ashley and Emma felt when IIeX North America was over. Hosted by GreenBook, IIeX is all about new ideas, new approaches and new connections in market research and insights. In addition to co-chairing the event with our pal Will Leach, teaching a master class, and doing her part to Keep Austin Weird, Priscilla and the Little Bird crew attended amazing lectures, hit the pavement for Bird on the Street podcast interviews, and critically evaluated every scenario so that they could bestow upon four lone stars the (completely fictional) Little Bird Awards. Those sessions herein are compiled for your listening pleasure. Tune in to hear from IIeX staff, attendees and presenters. Including:Colleen Kennedy - Director of Marketing at GreenBookSasha McCune - Director at Conifer ResearchTim Lawton - Co-founder at SightX Jackie Anderson - Growth Strategist at ScaleHouseMark Macellaio - Vice President of Sales

One entrepreneur started a marketing company, and loves wigs. The other started a wig company, and loves marketing. Put them together, and what do you get? This episode of Ponderings from the Perch! Listen in as Priscilla chats with Carliz Sotelo Moore, founder of wigs.com - the largest online hair and wig retailer in the world!They discuss a wide array of topics including:• Employee buy-in, and the importance of making a positive impact• Growth of the non-need based wig industry• The important role that content plays in creating value for customers • How power of invested influencers who love to share• How to facilitate the best feedback from customers, and use it to shape the futureThey also talk about the magical powers of wigs, meeting Raquel Welch, and making awesome videos. Check out the whole episode, and be sure to follow wigs.com on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!Like what you hear? Let us know! Subscribe, rate and review Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi

Q: What’s the one thing that Andy Crestodina wants you to get better at? A: Specificity!Here’s what you need to know about Andy: He’s the co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media, Chicago-based web design and development firm, he’s the author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing, and he’s the founder of Content Jam, Chicago’s largest marketing conference. Oh, and he was named a Top 10 Online Marketing Expert by Forbes Magazine!In this episode, Andy and Priscilla talk about the multifaceted nature of content marketing, including SEO and influencer marketing - taking an in-depth look at several tactics businesses can use to improve their ranking and levels of engagement. They also talk about the nuts and bolts of content creation, including books, blogs, and podcasts, wherein Andy shares a brilliant checklist for improving headlines. Later, Colton Harrington goes full-on Reading Rainbow, offering his thoughts on Andy’s book, Content Chemistry (take a look, it’s in a book!). Also, keep y

Anddddd we’re back! After 3 Quirk’s events, Momma Bird, Priscilla McKinney is in the podcast booth and recapping her time at the most recent Quirk’s Event in Chicago. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla and Content Marketing Manager, Ashley Le Blanc, discuss their favorite parts of the conference, including: networking events, the MR Jam Band and eating french fries in bed after a long day.Per usual, the two give out a few awards for their favorite giveaway item, best shoes and the coveted, Quirk’s Spirit Award. The two attended the conference well-prepared with recorder in hand. Listen in as Priscilla and Ashley interview attendees, staff and presenters of Quirk’s Chicago 2019. Guests include: Katie Kulp - Quirk's MediaZoe Dowling - Focus Vision Sanjay Vrudhula - Recon MRTina Gaffney - RealeyesMichael Kissen - Fuel CycleRiley Maynard - DapresyKevin Mahler - Schmidt Market ResearchJustin Blomgren - 20|20 ResearchJim Jacobs - Focus InsiteJill Bishop - Multilingual Connections

Blasting out of the gate with a Baader-Meinhof phenom moment, Priscilla and Jamin Brazil hit the ground running in this episode of Ponderings from the Perch. Jamin, CEO of Happy Market Research podcast discusses his early love of market research methodology that led him to found Decipher, a market research software company, eventually selling the product to and becoming CEO of FocusVision. Brazil currently wears many hats, but the art of podcasting is top among his discussion points. Priscilla and Jamin talk about the craft of storytelling, the singularity of passive consumption, and their upcoming presentations at IIeX Austin:Jamin’s Presentation: 3 Ways You Can Leverage The Power of PodcastsPriscilla’s Masterclass: Effective Content Strategies for Being Heard Above the NoiseOther topics of conversation included upcoming tech, incremental improvement, and why it’s okay to stop worrying about older, potentially embarrassing podcast episodes and embrace them as artifacts of progress. Badass recommendations fro

Despite the fact that LinkedIn predates almost all popular social networking sites (2003!!), there are still a lot of relatively savvy internet users who have no idea what the social business site is all about. Until now. Listen in as Priscilla and Ashley discuss common misconceptions, what the site is and is not designed for, and how to utilize the platform to facilitate authentic connections. Priscilla - an undeniable LinkedIn whiz - gives special shoutouts to former podcast guest Tim Hughes for the innovative thoughts put forward in his book Social Selling, and to Adam Gray for the groundbreaking book Brilliant Social Media Business Strategy. From there, Priscilla and Ashley talk shop with five actionable LinkedIn tips including best practices for endorsements, introductions, and articles. Check out the whole episode and stop telling people that LinkedIn is the social site of the jobless. Hurtful! Want to hear more shows like this? Let us know by subscribing, rating and reviewing Ponderings from the Perch

“It can be easy to forget the motivation that ultimately all we’re here to do is to help people. And we help people by connecting supply and demand, as new opportunities emerge. So we work hard to fight against that. To remind everybody, every day: This is what we’re here to do. We’re here to help folks.”  It’s impossible to overstate the impact that GreenBook Executive Director Leonard “Lenny” Murphy has had on the world of market research. In this episode, Priscilla talks to Lenny about some of the experiences that shaped his path, and the most exciting new developments in GreenBook and IIeX. One of those developments is the upcoming IIeX from April 23-25, which will be held in Austin for the first time ever. Leonard and Priscilla talk about what prompted the move, and hatch a plan to “Keep Austin Weird” during the event which is co-chaired by Priscilla and Will Leach. Leonard discusses the vital role that content plays for GreenBook, how the agency shifted from a directory to a content creator, and ev

Why is it important to stay on brand in all elements of design? What’s the most challenging part of designing specifically for content marketing? Will Little Bird invest in a memes department in 2019?It was Priscilla's birthday, and Kahlief and Leighton said, "G'ahead and have a great trip... we'll handle the podcast for you!" Then they did it. In this episode, The Design Dojo - a.k.a. two of Little Bird's lead graphic designers - discuss the importance of graphic design for inbound marketing. Video, branding strategy, the GIF debate, and how the ideal buyer persona impacts the design process are all part of this short, feature-packed episode. A great listen for both marketers and designers alike! Don't forget to enter the Badass Women Giveaway before the month of March is over. Click here to enter! Like what you hear? Let us know! Subscribe, rate and review Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes.P.S. Check out some of our FREE resources on developing and utilizing your buyer personas. As Leighton explains, thes

The last time Sima Vasa was on the podcast, it was for the Flock Stars WIRe miniseries. In this episode, she and Priscilla discuss how founding Infinity Squared Ventures allowed her to combine her knowledge of research with her entrepreneurial experience to help entrepreneurs scale for growth or for sale: “Taking the emotion out of things and really looking at financials objectively, and saying, ‘okay, if I peel back the layers here, I have to be realistic in what I think I can sell this company for based on the financial story.’ And also historical, like - look, if you have a growth rate that’s amazingly, consistently, year over year just knocking it out of the park, I mean, there’s nuances to every scenario. But that’s kind of the base piece I think is really important for people to understand. I think the second thing is, If you’re going to exit, or even if you’re going to raise money, that management team has to be strong. Whenever you put money in, you want to know that there’s a team behind it that’s co

Over the pond and through the woods, to the Quirk’s Event we go! In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Momma Bird, Priscilla McKinney, recaps her time at the very first Quirk’s Event in London, England. Tune-in as Priscilla and Ashley review the benefits of attending industry events and give out a few awards like Best Interactive Booth and Best Giveaway Item (spoiler: Priscilla also gives her own award for Best Pants). This isn’t your average event recap. Listen in as Priscilla takes to the streets of London for a Bird on the Street segment featuring Quirk’s Event attendees. Guests share their favorite parts of the event and their personal insights on the future of MR. "Research can be a very myopic type of business. If you’re in qual, you tend to be in a very narrow tunnel, and you don’t see how other people do stuff. And if you’re in the quantitative side, you have a structure of how you tend to write things. I think coming to these conferences and hearing people present and speak, you hear differe

Ponderings from the Perch doesn’t usually get squeakquel episodes. However, when we heard that our friend Pam Didner had a new book, we were like, “Look who’s invited to the podcast now,” and also kind of like, “I still know this is going to be a great podcast!” For those who don’t know, Pam is a sales, marketing & communication consultant, two-time author, prolific blogger, and global marketing speaker. She was also a guest of Ponderings way back in episode 39. Pam’s latest book, “Effective Sales Enablement,” is written for marketers to foster collaborative sales and marketing efforts. This time around, Priscilla and Pam quickly got back in the habit, discussing authorship, public speaking, the perils of marketing silos, and what marketers can do to better support their sales teams. It’s a truly bogus journey. Like what you hear? Let us know! Subscribe, rate and review Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes.P.S. Props to anyone who caught all of our sequel references in this week's show notes. About our spo

Lawn darts. Robotic gutter cleaners. In-car coffee brewers. These are just a few things that have enjoyed more commercial success than Google+. Google’s social networking endeavor seemed poised to make big waves… something about their $719 billion in market capital lent a bit of credibility to the effort that turned out to be an almost immediate cricket-fest. The recent announcement that they would be pulling the plug on the sleeping giant wasn’t a huge shock to most people, but it’s not without ramifications. In this episode, Priscilla McKinney and Ashley Le Blanc do a quick once-over on the cause, effects, and potential side-effects of G+’s upcoming journey upon the pale horse. RIP, Google+. You were the Jar Jar Binks of social networks. We made fun of you so much, we started to feel guilty about it. Goodnight, sweet prince. Social Media Resources:- BLOG: 3 WAYS LITTLE BIRD MARKETING USES SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPAND YOUR MARKETING MESSAGE- BLOG: PRISCILLA’S 4 TIPS FOR BUSINESSES STRESSED BY THE NEW FACEBOOK ALGO

Ready for a dose of the truth? In this episode, Priscilla discusses “messy brilliance,” inspiring confidence, and the power of truth telling with Women for One founder Kelly McNelis. Women for One is a global community that empowers women to find and embrace their own voices, inspiring the confidence needed for them to achieve their dreams. McNelis’s journey has seen not only the creation of this community, but also the launch of the Truth Teller Tour, a series of courses, and toolkits aimed at the same goal: “I just wanted women to be able to share their stories and as soon as I  intended to do that, and created a container for women to submit their stories for free, and really get out their experiences to the world so they can feel more connected and other women can feel less alone when they read it, It’s just resonated with society.”Her book, “Your Messy Brilliance: Seven Tools for the Perfectly Imperfect Woman,” is set to be featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and O Magazine this year. Check out the fu

EMAIL - an open line of communication between brand and buyer. With this kind of direct contact, it makes sense that emails have remained a fundamental part of our marketing strategies for years. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla hands the mic to Colton Harrington of Little Bird Marketing and he takes to the streets to interview everyday people about their email behaviors in a new segment we’re calling THE BIRD ON THE STREET. Over the years, as people continued to receive more and more marketing emails, their behavior has shifted. As marketers, we keep adjusting our strategies to try and reflect these behaviors. But what are they? Colton asks questions to uncover just that:- “Is there a particular time of day you check you email most?”- ”If an email uses your name in the subject line, is it creepy or more likely to make you open it?”- “What’s the main reason you unsubscribe from emails?” Learn more about how you can take your email strategy to the next level with our free resource, "9 Re

Pretty much every business owner - either brick and mortar or online - understands that increased traffic doesn’t always equate to increased sales. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla talks with Chris Dayley, a neuromarketer and A/B testing wizard with Disruptive Advertising, about the differences between search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization. Dayley’s small testing and optimization startup, Dayley Conversion merged with Disruptive Advertising in 2016. He and Priscilla dive deep into the importance of asking the right questions, the differences between small and large business, and approaching potential clients with a mentality of abundance. Bonus! Chris has put together a free A/B testing starter guide featuring recommended tools, first tests to try, and case studies that is available here!Connect with Chris on Twitter, LinkedIn or Disruptive Advertising.Like what you hear? Let us know! Subscribe, rate and review Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes.About our sponsor:

Just like our old pal T.S. Eliot said, "last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice."  In this episode, Momma Bird - Priscilla McKinney and Little Bird Content Marketing Specialist - Ashley Le Blanc talk about greeting the new year with a swift karate chop, and ditching all those bad marketing habits you might have picked up through the years. Want a sneak peek? Here's the overview of the tips!1. Stop selling so hard. Learn about Priscilla's Rule of 15, which lays out a balanced framework for social posting that integrates sales without being annoying.2. Stop treating social media like an afterthought. Short form content is an art form unto itself, and shouldn't be approached haphazardly, or shoved off on the nearest administrative assistant. 3. Stop pretending that "content" equals "blogging." Google looks at more than just the blog to determine your site's authority - think video and audio - and expand your content landscape. [ 3a. If it's not an importan

The WIRe miniseries has been nothing short of inspiring. In the final episode of this series, Priscilla interviews Brin Moore. In addition to being a partner at Trusted Talent, where she helps market research firms find the right talent for the right jobs, Brin has been an integral part of WIRe in San Francisco, heading up the biannual events in the Golden City. In this episode, the two talk about the best parts of WIRe, the importance of local networking and the changing landscape of executive recruiting in conjunction with the market research and consumer insights industry:“There’s a tremendous amount of talent out there. And there are amazing opportunities out there. The marketplace is just teeming with opportunities. And people are being very, very picky about what they want - they’re looking for the right fit. Both on the client side and the researcher. They’re looking for the right culture fit, lifestyle fit, and expertise fit. They’re being very diligent about, ‘What is the position, what is it that yo

“Reality may not be the best of all possible worlds, but it’s still the only place where you can get a decent steak.” - Woody AllenIn this episode, Priscilla McKinney talks with Charlie Rosenbury, founder and president of Self Interactive, a Springfield, MO based software development company specializing in virtual (V) and augmented (A) reality experiences. In addition to discussing the differences between VR and MR, Priscilla and Charlie talk about the future and present of this technology and how it can, when properly utilized, present a truly creative solution to a wide variety of problems. Learn about the difference between three and six degrees of freedom, the possible applications of Snapchat filters, meatball machines, and that time Priscilla’s brain went swimming with whales. In addition to being the president of Self Interactive, Rosenbury is also a co-founder of Springfield Creatives. After checking out this episode, Perch fans might be interested in revisiting Priscilla’s interview with Kyle Drenon

In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla interviews Lilah Koski - a 25-year veteran of the insights industry, motivated to understand human decision making. As founder and CEO of Logica Research (formerly Koski Research), she's driven to help organizations use research to better engage with customers and improve people's financial lives. Logica Research excels in creating customized research solutions that answer our clients’ most complex business questions. “Our focus is providing insights to financial service organizations to help them develop products and services that will improve people’s financial lives.”Lilah also shares her personal experience with WIRe and describes the organization as a "tremendously supportive community." Want to know more about WIRe? Click here for information about becoming a member for free!Don’t miss an episode of this special miniseries. Subscribe to Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes!P.S. What are you doing February 18th and 19th? If your answer wasn't I