Ponderings From The Perch

Do you need a little Christmas? Right this very minute? Perhaps you have the candles in the window and are only lacking the carols at the spinet? Well, you’re in for a treat, because it’s time for the 3rd annual Little Bird Holiday Spectacular Spectacular!Join in the fun as the Little Bird gang talks fave and least fave holiday movies (spoiler: there are a lot of conflicting opinions). Listen to Priscilla and Ashley discuss the Little Bird holiday-themed blog, "If Marketing was a Christmas Movie," and hear your favorite carols performed by the Little Bird band, including Priscilla’s autoharp and melodica, the ukulele quartet, and some switched-on holiday classics! Finally, don’t forget to place your bets on who will win the Hallmark Christmas movie themed quiz show: Plot or Not? (We’ve got 100 bucks on Emma to take the whole thing!)What’s our holiday wish? That’s sweet of you to ask! Well, it’d be great if you left us a glowing 5-star review on iTunes! Imagine us waking up in the morning, running down the sta

Fully recovered from jet lag, but still fresh off a trip to Bangkok, Priscilla took a few minutes in the podcast booth with Little Bird Content Marketing Specialist, Colton Harrington, to discuss her experiences as Co-Chair and Presenter during IIeX Asia Pacific. In addition to discussing some of her favorite presentations, she shares a few market research stories, and tells Colton all about the amazing fruit and candy selections that Thailand has to offer. In addition to amazing insights, fellow presenters and IIeX Asia Pacific attendees Ray Poytner or NewMR, Aung Thura of Catalyst Human Insights, and Andrew Kuiler of Silk Initiative call in to share their favorite parts from the event - all the cutting edge AI, Ikigai in market research, mobile/app emphasis, and predictive modeling. Check out the whole show for more information!There's still time to make it to an IIeX event. Next up, IIeX Europe on  February 18th and 19th. Then, IIeX is is headed to the US. Don't miss IIeX North America from April 23rd

Owning a business is hard work, but learning when it’s time to let it go can be even harder. For Dianne, choosing to sell 80% of her business was a difficult, but necessary to propel her and her company forward. In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla is joined by Dianne Gardiner – CEO of Bastion Latitude. “My journey started over 10 years ago when I took the leap of faith and actually started my own research business called Latitude Insights.” Widely credited as being a leader in online community research in Australia, Dianne's passion for pragmatic insight runs deep. She established Latitude Insights over 10 years ago, joining the Bastion Collective in 2016, and today she heads up an international team of research experts. “Change is hard for anyone, but unless we lean into it, we aren’t going to become better people.” Dianne and Priscilla’s conversation is packed full of insights on owning your own business, mentorship and learning when its time to let go. Traveling the furthest, Dian

Perceptions of the past and future, in relation to marketing, are often conflicting. Some people dread the future and its inevitable robo-takeover, while clinging to oft-antiquated traditions. Others are gung-ho over the latest bells and whistles, trend-hopping from new thing to new thing. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla talks with Ray Poynter about how we fit in the still-developing timeline of market research. As Ray says, there's room for both enthusiasm for the future and a retention of traditional values:"Probably my niche in the market is that I’m a very cynical lover of the new. So, yes, I do like new things, but I’m not easily swayed.  I’ve got a very good grounding in the traditional aspects of applying the science; applying methodology and seeing where things fit. I’m much more interested in how they work than how shiny they are." Ray is the founder of NewMR, author of "The Handbook of Online and Social Media Research," and "The Handbook of Mobile Market Research," and t

Nancy Hernon has been with WIRe since the beginning, thanks to her friend and colleague Kristin Luck. “We never had a forum to come together in one place and she gave us that platform.” In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla interviews Nancy Hernon, Chief Executive Officer of G3 Translate. With over two decades of experience in the field, Nancy provides a global voice to clients across several industries. Working with major corporations, Nancy has launched new projects and websites and overseen translations for qualitative and quantitative marketing research, technical copy, advertising and legal content.For her, WIRe is a place to connect with like-minded, business-driven women. Starting as a member of WIRe, Nancy has now attended the WIRexec Leadership Summit multiple times. “I just love the way that Kristin has structured it– to make it about the head and the heart, the business and the personal. It’s so different from any industry event I’ve ever been to.”This episode is sponsored b

Join Priscilla and workplace futurist Marti Konstant as they delve into the vibrant world of Agile! Though traditionally thought of as a methodology for software development, Marti first worked on applying the methods to the marketing process, and eventually to individual career management. The result was her book, Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change Will Inspire Your Life’s Work. It also led to the foundation of the Agile Careerist Project. In this episode, Priscilla and Marti tackle tricky topics like:• How to maintain team buy-in• Individual career growth• How to move away from siloing and hierarchical job structures• The importance of ongoing learning• And more!Put simply, “If you’ve got more skills and knowledge in part of what is the future of marketing, you’re going to be more in demand and more needed in the future.” This is the “Duty Now for the Future” that Devo told us about. Check the episode out for more details!Like what you hear? Let us know! Subscribe, rate and review Ponderin

“Watch out- it’s addictive.” – being an entrepreneur, that is. After 15 years of experience, Dyna Boen would know. In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla interviews Dyna Boen, President of Market Research at Survata. “Once I have a vision for something, I can just clearly go after it. People say that I like to jump into the deep end with both feet.” This interview is packed with noteworthy insights fueled by Dyna’s experience. She was the co-founder of UBMobile, which sold to Critical Mix in 2018, an early member at MarketTools-Zoomerang, which sold to Survey Monkey in 2012, co-founder of the data quality company TrueSample, which merged with Imperium in 2017, and co-founded the WIRexec Leadership Summit which started in 2016.Listen-in for a behind the scenes look at the WIRexec Leadership Summit and to find out what new MR tech excites Dyna. Want to know more about WIRe? Click here for information about becoming a member for free.Brought to you by GreenBook, the IIeX conference season

Regular or decaf coffee? Aisle or window seat? Fries or tots…or curly fries? For most of us, these are just a few of the hundreds of decisions we make every day without conducting a cost-benefit analysis. We make these choices intuitively, using some magical portion of our brain/consciousness that’s able to just *snap* make decisions immediately. In this episode, Priscilla talks with Will Leach, founder of Trigger Point Design, a leading behavioral research and design consultancy. Trigger Point helps brands understand how to align their designs with the reality of how people actually make decisions - or, “match marketing toward behavior.” Will is also the author of “Marketing to Mindstates,” a brilliant guide that demystifies these non-conscious filters and illustrates ways to create messages that activate emotional engagement. He and Priscilla discuss the highlights and challenges of authorship, and how the information in the book can be applied to a whole variety of situations. Brought to you by GreenBook,

"We're in a place of data-explosion. People know that they have access to so much data now and they're embracing that change."Serial entrepreneur, Sima Vasa, is not an exemption. She's making waves in the market research industry by embracing new technology and encouraging MR execs to be more than just experts in data. In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla interviews Sima Vasa of Infinity Squared Ventures and host of the Data Gurus podcast."I've had a pretty varied experience in the market research industry. I was on the client side at IBM and now I'm an entrepreneur."Sima's specialty is her deep and longstanding experience in building and growing businesses. As CEO and Founder of Infinity Squared Ventures, she focuses on accelerating new and emerging businesses in the market research space.Keeping up with the market research industry can be exhausting, but Sima explains that WIRe has helped her recharge, refocus and tackle big goals. "I'm always delighted when I leave the WIRexec Retr

Grappling hooks? Check. Ski masks? Affirmative. Lookout van in the parking lot? Yep! Get ready, because in this episode, Priscilla and Matt Koenig, Owner and Chief Developer at MK Web Development, are hacking into the mainframe of web development knowledge. In this heretofore uncompromised maximum security vault of information, questions are everywhere, and answers are like unto shadows. Priscilla and Matt get straight to the heart of things, answering tough questions like:Why the heck is my site so slow?What questions should I ask of a hosting service?What plugins should I be running on my Wordpress site?And more!Matt offers practical and helpful advice on database optimization, firewalls, backups, and image size, and Priscilla recounts the tale of the mysteriously windy website. Resource links:PingdomGoogle page insightsGT MetricsSmush, Imagefy, Shortpixel - are WP plugins that downsize too big photos Like it? Love it? Want some more of it? Let us know by leaving a review on iTunes!Learn more

What does it mean to be in the front seat of a female-driven market research company? In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla interviews Katrina Noelle of KNow Research and Scoot Insights.“We landed on ‘female-driven’ because that is who is behind the wheel of our team. It’s come out of a personal history, for me, of endorsing and supporting women in the research industry because that’s how I’ve ended up where I am.”Katrina Noelle is a self-proclaimed “time-zone agnostic” and president of KNow Research. For over 15 years, KNow Research has been designing custom qualitative research design for clients by combining methodologies from traditional in-person research with online and mobile approaches. To serve even more qualitative research needs, Katrina co-founded Scoot Insights, an agile qualitative methodology provider.To describe her companies, Katrina regularly uses the terms “boots on the ground” and “front lines.” Why? Because her team does it all. From meeting with clients to collect

“To blog or not to blog?” A question you’ve probably asked yourself a time or two as a business owner. So what’s the answer? In this episode of the Little Bird Marketing company podcast, Momma Bird - Priscilla McKinney and Content Marketing Specialist - Ashley Le Blanc explore the benefits and complexity of blogging.“Blogging - it's been around for a while now and seems like it might just be something that anyone can do, but we're here to say, maybe not everyone should be doing it, and if you are doing it, maybe you should have a strategy.”Here’s the reality - the internet is exploding with content. There are millions of articles posted daily and you can't beat it by posting more. That's right— there's no point in adding clutter. To see ROI on your blogs, you need to focus on the quality of your content and how well you’re answering the questions of your ideal customer.“This is a bigger question than just writing words that go on your website. It's about reaching your ideal client. Not just any client, not ju

Welcome to Flock Stars! These bite-size episodes feature the movers and shakers in marketing, advertising and surrounding industries. Our first season is all about Women In Research and each minisode will feature an inspiring woman who attended the 2018 WIRexec Leadership Summit. In this first episode, Priscilla McKinney interviews Kristin Luck– Ponderings from the Perch vet, supporter of women and Founder of WIRe.“There’s so much direction in what we need to change to be successful, versus really stepping into understanding what our strengths are as women and as business leaders.”Kristin is a serial entrepreneur and a globetrotting, internationally recognized keynote speaker on marketing measurement. She’s a futurist and growth hacking expert, specializing in nontraditional marketing and branding strategies. In 2007, Kristin was inspired to start WIRe after connecting with 50 women in the market research industry over drinks. Since that first cocktail mixer, WIRe has grown to become a global not-for-profit o

When’s the last time you practiced the art of being selfish? Before you tell on us for using the “s-word,” let us explain. We’re talking about carving out time for self-exploration and inquiry. This week on the Little Bird Marketing company podcast, we brought in an expert on the journey to finding your authentic self.In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney is joined by Sarah Marshank - entrepreneur and author. Sarah started Selfistry, a comprehensive integrative educational system for mastering the art of being human. She’s also the author of the “Being Selfish: My Journey for Escort to Monk to Grandmother.” Based in the SF Bay Area, Sarah teaches and speaks internationally, offers online courses, consults with corporate clients and works one-on-one with individuals.Sarah’s inspiring conversation with Priscilla is filled with questions like, “How do we become the author of our own life?” and important insights like, “There is nothing wrong with continuing to grow ourselves.”If you’re

She’s done it– Priscilla McKinney, Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, has turned 100 (in podcast years). To celebrate, she’s teamed up with friend and co-host Dan Leadbetter for a special show!This episode is packed full of throwbacks, true stories, entrepreneurial insights and guest appearances.“I still remember all of those milestones. As the company progresses and you bring new people on, it’s important to tell the story– as it was.”Making it to episode 100 wouldn’t be possible without our amazing guests, staff and, of course, listeners. A giant thank you to all of our the Ponderings from the Perch alumni, including the ones featured in this episode:Doug Sandler Maribeth Kuzmeski David Reimherr Tim Hughes Rachel O’Meara Deirdre Breakenridge Tony Cheevers Beck McKinneySawyer McKinneySteve McKinneyAlso, don’t miss our announcement about our NEW upcoming mini-series. Flock Stars premieres Friday, September 28th and you won’t want to miss it– so subscribe on iTunes!

We all know the saying, “teamwork makes the dream work,” but in this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney and guest Deirdre Breakenridge of the Women Worldwide podcast prove that networking can be one of the most valuable tools for your business.Sharing in their love of communication, marketing and podcasting, Deirdre and Priscilla share their biggest networking successes and the mediums that facilitated them. Each using their podcast as their vessel, these two marketing badasses have mastered the art of getting the most out connections.Deirdre shares, “Your [podcast] guests are an opportunity to do something together…That guest in the seat is really important.”In addition to learning how Deirdre grew her podcast to 5,000 organic listens per episode, you’ll gain these insights on podcasting:AdvertisingMeasuring ROINailing the fundamentalsGive Deirdre’s podcast, Women Worldwide, a listen (we suggest this interview with Jennifer Wilkov) on iTunes or C-Suite Radio.Like what you hear? Let us k

Is your content geared to reach your ideal client? When it comes to marketing strategy, one of the biggest mistakes businesses make is failing to identify their ideal client. In this episode of the Little Bird Marketing podcast, Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney and Dan Leadbetter explore the topic of buyer personas.“Buyer personas give you the research you need to create content and messages for the person who is most likely to buy your product.”Throughout the episode, Priscilla shares her experience and the tips she’s learned creating buyer personas for clients and for her own business. The buyer persona drum is one she beats often - catch more content on this topic on our blog or in our free Ideal Client Personas guide!Are you ready to get the most out of your marketing budget? Tune-in to this episode and do your buyer persona homework.Like what you hear? Subscribe to Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes and while you’re there, leave us a rating and review.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney teams up with her podcast sister– Maribeth Kuzmeski of the Female Insight Zone podcast and Red Zone Marketing. Throughout the episode, the two share insights from their experiences as entrepreneurs, marketers and podcast hosts.Maybe you're a podcaster looking to take your craft to the next level, or maybe you're just an avid listener who appreciates the nuances of the medium... either way, you're in for a treat as Maribeth shares the strategies she uses for her podcast, the Female Insight Zone. Want a sneak peak?“If you listen to really good interviewers, people who actually want to get to the heart of something, they’re doing a little research - they’re doing some background - they’re not just hitting start and then just reading the bio. You’ve got to know something about the people you’re interviewing so you can come up with really good questions.”Give this episode a listen for more podcast tips and advice on altering your marketing message to

With all of the headlines about Facebook’s privacy policy and algorithm changes, you’ve probably been left scratching your head and asking questions like: How is my Facebook feed going to change? How do I get more interactions on my Facebook business page? Why did Mark Zuckerberg have to testify before Congress? And why doesn’t he ever blink?In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney, Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, is back with Dan Leadbetter. Join them as they discuss the ever-changing world of digital media.Whether you're up-to-date on the newest Facebook algorithm changes or stuck in the days of dial-up Internet, this episode will give you tips on improving your Facebook marketing strategy.Tune-in as Priscilla and Dan discuss:Major Facebook changes over the yearsWhy buyer personas are important for your social media marketing strategyHow to get the most out of Facebook advertisingWant more information on how you can use Facebook for your business? Check out the Little Bi

If The Office taught us anything, it’s that managing people is harder than it looks. From creating an enjoyable work environment to fostering creativity and innovation, being a good boss takes practice, intention and a little bit of skill. While Priscilla is definitely not Michael Scott, in this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, she reveals which fictional boss she identifies with most. Tune-in as Priscilla answers questions about leadership styles, creating stellar office culture and supporting your employees.Here’s a sneak peek of the questions she answers in this week’s episode:What’s your first memory of being a leader?What characteristics does it take to be a good leader and boss?What is your biggest management mistake?What’s your biggest management accomplishment?How do you get to know your employees and their work styles?What’s one piece of advice for bosses and one for employees?Like it? Love it? Want some more of it? Let us know by leaving a review on iTunes!“I guess the attitude that I've tried