I was sailing before I was born. Even nine months pregnant, my mother was crewing for my dad aboard a Pintail. Just weeks after my birth, my

Determining your target audience is critical to your marketing success. And that determination is about a lot more than just a label of “donor” or “business owner.” Effectively reaching your target audience requires that you understand who these people are . What motivates them? What do they value? Where do they get their information? How do they make their decisions? Start by looking at – and talking to – your existing customers. Note commonalities and try to group them base

We’ve all heard the old adage that “perception is reality” (whether that perception is accurate or not). In order for your organization to have its greatest impact and success, you must fully understand your relationships from the perspective of the other side (your clients, partners, employees and other stakeholders). A clear and accurate picture of how these stakeholders perceive your value – in time, talent, service, and reputation—is critical for your organization’s longe

Out of college, I worked for the Andrew Jergens Company. I rose through the ranks quickly to oversee claims substantiation...

We have long shouted from the rooftops about the importance of positioning statements as the foundation for all marketing initiatives. (After all, a message worth shouting is a lot more effective.) Girl on the Roof is routinely asked to assist with projects that are further down the pipeline, like a website or a brochure. When planning these projects, we start with some standard questions: Why does your organization exist? What problem are you solving? Who is your audience? W

I recently counseled a client through a difficult human resources issue. Like most human issues, it was not cut and dry. I spent weeks evaluating, assessing and analyzing expectations, responsibilities, processes and performances. What I discovered is that while there were very clear issues, the exact cause of them was unclear. Hearts were in the right place, but there was still an insurmountable disconnect. To help me get to the root of the issue – to uncover the exact poi

I’ve often told people who work for me, “I don’t expect you to be perfect. We all make mistakes. It’s about how you respond to a mistake that matters.” I had a Project Coordinator named Melissa who was my eyes and ears at the main office of an ad agency in Louisville while I ran a satellite office in Cincinnati. She was fresh out of college and made her fair share of mistakes. But she learned quickly how to respond to mistakes. She would call me and say, “OK, I really messed

Over the course of my career, I have served actively on more than ten nonprofit boards. Some of those organizations have had a pretty high profile, which enabled me to make some professional connections that helped strengthen my own business and expand my client base. But that's not why I served. When people ask how I have grown my businesses, I often credit in part the community work I have done in the various cities I've lived. The follow-up question is sometimes predictab

On a walk one morning, my husband and I came across a deer that had been struck by a vehicle and lay on the side of the road. It was mortally wounded but still alive, terrified and suffering greatly. Having no control over its back legs, it thrashed with the front of its body, trying desperately to get up. It was within a foot or two of the side of Northshore Drive, at a bend in the road, where cars could not see it until they were upon it. We approached a stopped car on the

“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” It’s such a counter-intuitive statement, especially when I look over to my daughter seated next to me on the plane. As if I could bear to see her gasp even one time as I put my interests ahead of hers! And yet I know that if I reached first to her mask, in my fear and panic, my own breathing would increase as I scrambled to help her and keep her calm. And, of course, if I fall unconscious, I cannot help her at all. If y

A new semester began this week at Johnson University, where I resumed my role as the professor for a Marketing and PR class. I went into the class fully prepared, syllabus in hand, ready to bestow great knowledge and insight. But it was I who left changed last night by a simple truth spoken by a guest speaker, Stanley Taylor, a beloved friend of mine from Knoxville Leadership Foundation. It is a truth that I know, a truth that I hold dear, a truth that I have taught. But when

The term “touchpoints” has been used in marketing for a long time. But the concept of it is still lost on some people. Every interface you have with your target audience – be it your web site, signage, Twitter page, business card, an advertisement, print materials, phone call, hold message, voice mail … these are all touchpoints; and they are all opportunities to present your message. Stop for a moment and think about how many of these touchpoints you experience as you go th

I recently had an opportunity to submit some content to the author of a book on advice given by mothers. I’m sure there are far more that touch me daily, but there are two specific instances where my mother’s voice routinely transcends through time and space. To this day, I still apply these words regularly. The first was from grade school, when I was one girl in a group of three close girl friends. My mother continually cautioned me about groups of three: “In a group of thr

I had lunch earlier this week with a gentleman who runs a reputable production company in Knoxville. We happened upon the subject of...

Every organization has what I call “screaming children” – those issues which demand attention. It is, of course, human nature, to want to tend to the child who is screaming the loudest. However, practically speaking, addressing that issue may not be the most strategic move for the organization. That issue (the screaming child) may, in effect, go away (fall asleep) if simply left alone. Or, you may discover that one child is merely screaming because another child is not playin