I have been very fortunate to work with some great people at some great companies over the years. For the highlights, please read on. For a more formal document with a full list of accomplishments and responsibilities, please download my resume provided in PDF format via the link to the right.
Summary
– My career has focused on developing great customer experiences, learning how to best describe benefits to potential users, making them aware of the product/service, and optimizing the means of acquiring and retaining customers.
– Much of my focus has been on strategy development and on building profitable business models. Getting attention or web traffic is the easy part. Doing it in a cost effective manner that leads to profitable revenue flows is usually the challenge. This is where I have built significant expertise.
– Tactically, implementing these strategies online has mainly involved Paid Search (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), email list development, distributed content models (RSS feeds, widgets, etc.), Free Software Downloads, Affiliate programs, and reselling channels.
– I also have significant experience in more “traditional” marketing disciplines like advertising, public relations, analyst relations, launching new products, website and collateral development, partner marketing, direct mail, lead generation, database marketing, and customer relationship management (CRM) and prospect nurturing.
– One of the best parts of my career has been developing teams and mentoring talent. I hire brilliant people (smarter than me!) and help to point them in the right direction. Together we accomplish more than the sum of our parts.
My Experience
Director of Digital Web Strategy | The Hanover Insurance Group | (2009-Present)
At The Hanover, I have helped a $4 billion property and casualty insurance carrier define and implement their strategy for leveraging the Web, digital tools, and social media to support their business model. I have had the unique perspective of being a “marketing guy” working within the IT organization to drive the use of web and social technologies to solve business problems and provide value.
We have developed a unique social media strategy and adopted a set of social software to drive collaboration and communications across the company’s partners and employees. We have remade the way web user experiences are conceived and executed and have built a marketing automation eco-system that combines SaaS platforms and in-house systems to inform and automate marketing and sales processes across the organization. We have also positioned the company to rapidly develop both content and applications for use in a distributed mobile work environment using iPads and other devices.
Independent Marketing Consultant | (2009)
As an independent consultant I worked with a variety of companies, helping them define and implement their marketing strategies and managing the tactical execution of search marketing, social media, and online content programs.
In short, I helped them make money online.
My engagements included work with:
– a global pharmaceutical company helping them to optimize their multi-country paid search program to meet their required conversion volumes while maintaining their cost-per-acquisition
– television production company helping them monetize their broadcast shows on the internet
– an online educational tutoring company helping them build a direct-to-consumer business
– a specialty marketing consulting company helping them to grow their professional seminar business by developing an online community.
VP, Online Sales & Marketing | Transparent Language | (2004-2009)
At TL, I built a multi-million dollar, online-direct-to-consumer line of business from the ground up. TL had a legacy retail package business, selling educational software to foreign language learners. We repackaged the software for electronic download, created and optimized a new online store, and developed and grew a vibrant customer acquisition program.
We developed a “freemium” model for our Byki software brand, giving away one version of the downloadable software and selling a premium version with more content and features. Almost four million people have used Byki. This helped us build a large and fully permissioned email list of potential paying customers.
A key aspect in driving traffic into the freemium model (and for our direct paid programs as well) was Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Optimizing paid search campaigns and eliminating non-performing traffic flows drove millions of users who drove real profits. Building out language learning content through games, quizzes, and blogs on our websites gave users plenty of reasons to return to our sites and tell their friends about our language learning solutions (and gave them a reason to link to our sites to help with SEO).
To reach more language learners off of our sites and make them aware of our brand and products, we also drove the development of a web 2.0 content syndication system with embeddable widgets for use in social media, on user blogs and websites. This distributed content function leverages users’ social graphs to present content across 4,000,000 visits each month and has driven tens of thousands of incoming links to improve search engine rankings. The flow of content also enabled us to build a distributed social community of over hundreds of thousands of language enthusiasts across topic-specific Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts, and social apps on MySpace and other OpenSocial networks.
We also launched a highly successful set of iPhone apps in the iTunes App Store and drove volume through Mobile Marketing. Creating a strong relationship with Apple led to features of our apps in the iTunes App Store.
VP of Marketing | Nobilis Software | (1999-2003)
At Nobilis, I built the marketing function for an enterprise software start-up from scratch and grew it from a single resource (me!), through two rounds of funding, into a department with 10 direct reports, multiple outside vendors and agencies, and a multi-million dollar budget. We successfully positioned the company as an innovator and thought leader in the Business Process Management (BPM) and Workflow space and launched our flagship product (the Nobilis ProcessWriter) to rave reviews and tremendous coverage by the trade press (including publications like Infoweek and Infoworld) and industry analysts (such as AMR, Forrester, Gartner, etc.).
We used an aggressive Public Relations (PR) campaign to achieve tremendous product recognition, winning the prestigious BEST OF COMDEX award at the leading technology trade show and Network Computing Magazine’s BUSINESS APPLICATIONS – PRODUCT OF THE YEAR award.
This successful awareness campaign was predicated on getting the messaging and positioning right!
I had great a great internal team and outside PR agency that helped us develop that message and EXPRESS it in materials (website, collateral, etc.) that RESONATED with each target audience.We also did what we could to stand out in a crowded space through things like Guerilla Marketing (with the Nobils Ice Cream truck handing out treats and software for free in downtown business areas).
I also led the lead generation function, driving thousands of qualified leads through database marketing, direct mail, email, trade shows, and a trial software program, poly-bagging hundreds of thousands of CDs with industry magazines and trade show guides. I also managed a small telemarketing team in the development and nurturing of sales leads.
Director of Internet Business Development | Phoenix Media Group | (1999)
At Phoenix Media, the publishers of the Boston Phoenix and Stuff@Night, I created and managed revenue-sharing partnerships for co-branded content and services from company’s sites, including people2people.com (dating and personals) and BostonPhoenix.com (local music, news, and events). In my time there, I negotiated partnerships with Lycos, MediaOne, and Infoseek. I also developed a thriving affiliate marketing program.
President & Founder | A3 Software / eXchange Markets Development | (1994-1998)
At A3, I founded and grew a company to provide an online marketplace technology platform with integrated inventory management software.
Our vision was similar to eBay – enable buyers and sellers of goods to find each other online – but we started a year before eBay was founded. We were too early and eBay executed much better than we did. We also chose to build a proprietary online service while eBay built their exchange on the internet (that year was a crucial difference!!!).
While we were building out the marketplace to connect dealers and collectors of art, antiques and collectibles, we noticed a real demand for business and inventory management software that met the unique needs of the dealer/gallery market. We quickly built a program to meet that need and brought it to market, selling through direct response advertising and trade shows. We grew to have hundreds of customers in more than a dozen countries.
I learned A LOT at A3 about developing products to meet the needs of the market and how sales are the lifeblood of companies.
Marketing Manager | BancWare | (1992-1994)
At BancWare, I was hired to be an inside sales representative but quickly moved into marketing, building out the function from scratch.
I authored all marketing materials for the company, including company and product brochures and demos, as well as white papers and case studies. I also led a campaign to increase brand awareness which led to an 800% increase in press coverage.
Financial Consultant | Merrill Lynch | (1989-1991)
At Merrill Lynch, I received the best sales training in the world, learning how to speak to the needs of a customer, how to present features and benefits, and how to ask for the order and close a deal.
I ranked in the top of my peer group in accounts opened, assets gathered, and commissions generated.
At the time, the most effective method for building a “book of business” was phone based selling, through referrals and cold calling of business and high net worth individuals. In my two years of selling at Merrill Lynch, I learned multiple lessons that helped me develop successful tele-sales operations later in my career.
My Education
The Johns Hopkins University (1984-1989)
I attended Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for three years and won admission into their highly competitive 5 year BA/MA program that combined the Senior year with the first year of graduate studies at their Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. At the end of my fourth year, I received my B.A. in International Studies. After two years in Washington, DC (my fifth overall), I received my M.A. in International Economics and European Studies.
As amusing as it sounds, I believe my studies in international relations were wonderful preparation for a career in marketing. Studying “IR” taught me that different people and countries have their own needs, perspectives, and ways of describing things. If you want something from them, whether through diplomacy or through sales/marketing, you must speak to their needs AND in a nomenclature that will make sense to and resonate with them…