I've heard way too many negative stories lately from clients who feel like they've been burned by their marketing consultants. What's happening? And how can you know if that marketing consultant you hired is really worth it? It is possible for you to hire help and get results. Without just ending up with yet another thing you're solely responsible for. 

The most effective marketers -- and leaders -- tap equally into both cognitive and affective empathy to create brand stories that resonate with what their audiences believe in. 

Marketing is the practice of leading a person to make new choices, to become something new by choosing the promise you offer them. Leadership is the practice of making people feel safe so that they might trust you

Quick. Grab a pen and paper. Step away from the computer. Answer these four questions, in your own handwriting, and you're on your way to creating your website.

You have a lot to say. Maybe you've started to gain recognition from the great work you're doing within your chosen expertise of corporate development or graphic design or bee behavior. You see the infinite flow of blog posts and social media chatter and you think maybe you're missing out. That's when you ask a marketing professional like me whether it's time for you to start a blog. And then you ask me how.

The thing is, being authentic is hard. It feels like a risk. Whether you’re deciding to value human-centric language over SEO data, or being more real with your teams than perhaps you were raised to do, it feels like a risk. And a risk means potential for failure. And failure is scary, right? Or maybe not…. Hope you’ll read my next blogs about SXSW lessons on vulnerability and resilience. It's all tied together