New Powerhouse Team Member
Emily brings her passion for helping others and experience in operations, marketing, event management, and customer service to every project and team. Emily served in a number of operational, logistics, event management, and client care roles in both professional and collegiate sports. Following her time in the athletic world, Emily transitioned into health care, serving in business development roles for both a hospital and a pharmaceutical company.
Emily grew up in a small town in Kentucky and is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. After graduation, she started her career in sports in California. Always up for a challenge and new adventure, Emily has had experience with teams and organizations across the United States, from the west coast to the southeast and a few in between. Emily brings her passion for helping others to her personal life as well. She served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children, working to meet the needs of children in the foster system of Kentucky. Outside of her professional and philanthropic endeavors, Emily is a newlywed who lives in Atlanta with her husband, Eric, and “fur babies,” Oliver and Brady.
LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT
The Art and Science of Marketing, Possibly According to an Actual Superhero
By: Julie Kirchner
Superheroes.
If Spandex-clad, masked vigilantes just sprang to mind, you’re not alone. But do modern-day superheroes actually exist?
We contend that they do. Because we’ve met one.
Enter this trailblazer in the marketing arena. She is someone Powerhouse has been privileged to partner with over the last few years, and after witnessing her skills and mindset at work, we put Batman on warning.
“If I could be a superhero, I’d love to be Connector Woman. I love bringing interesting people together to see what magic we can create,” says Rissa Reddan, Marketing Leader for Demand Generation at Equifax. There couldn’t possibly be a more exquisite interpretation for marketing than “bringing interesting people together.”
Reddan recently stepped into her new role as Demand Generation Leader for the U.S. Information Services business at Equifax, which is a one-billion-dollar-plus business. “My goal is to communicate how we help customers solve for growing business challenges,” Reddan says. For the past two years, she served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Commercial Business at Equifax, and prior to that, Senior Vice President of Marketing for PayNet until its acquisition by Equifax in 2019.
Reddan says, “I am thrilled to be a part of Equifax’s transformation. At Equifax, our goal is to help small businesses access capital. We know that when the small business economy thrives, so, too, the U.S. economy.”
And she’s right. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses account for 99.9% of businesses in the United States and provide nearly half of all jobs in its private workforce. (more…)
Did You Know?
Roughly 80% of small businesses are utilizing social media, however only 39% of them update their sites “as needed,” according to research published in The Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness. Yet how do most of us search for a business when we need a new or new-to-us product? We open Google and “let [our] fingers do the walking,” as the old Yellow Pages commercials used to say.
Now, more than ever, we are relying on our computers, tablets, and smartphones to help us shop, conduct business, and basically stay connected in both our personal and business lives. Our external communications are key to helping us promote our businesses, shape perception, gain more sales, and (bottom line) grow our businesses.
Various external communication tools exist such as websites, blogs, live events and conferences, email and newsletters, press releases, and the ever-present social media. Not only are these critical to promoting our brands, but they are also crucial in helping us build loyal customer bases and generate new leads.
If you feel lost on how to make the most of your external communications, Powerhouse Planning can help. We offer business development services that can help you bring your business to the next level. Contact us today for details.
3 Tips to Streamline External Communications
By: Meghan Traynor
Let’s face it—growing a business isn’t easy. You may have heard that effective communication is key for your business to thrive. With many businesses working remotely these days, streamlining your company’s external communications strategy is more important than ever.
So how can you make the most out of your external communications strategy, whether you are using social media, email newsletters, blogs, or a combination to connect with your audience? We’re glad you asked.
- Create content that relates to your brand. A good communications strategy should build brand awareness. To save yourself time in the long run and give yourself the opportunity to create valuable content, take out your calendar and brainstorm themes and holidays that relate to your brand. Put all these ideas into a strategic communications plan to refer to when you’re creating content. Most importantly, make sure your content always ties into your company’s brand.
- Be relatable and authentic. Get to know your audience. Review analytics to determine what content gets the most engagement. Find out what your customers value. Use these as tools when creating your companies’ external communications. Your audience wants to see the authenticity of your company, and what better way to get your brand out there than by being uniquely you in all you do?
- Marketing collateral. When designing graphics and marketing collateral, you want your audience to be able to understand clearly what your company is all about. What is your company’s message? If a stranger looked at your content, would he or she know what your company is all about? A great resource for this is Donald Miller’s book Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. The Powerhouse team found tremendous value in this read during a recent virtual book club.
Marketing or Messaging? Tips for Communicating as a Business with the Community
By: Meredith Flory
Not every piece of external communications from your company will be targeted advertising to gain new clients. External communication also includes messaging regarding what your company does, your values, and your engagement with the community that will tell the general public who you are. Not just potential clients, but current clients, business partners, and current or future employees. Consider how your company balances sales pitches with other forms of engagement. How do you show leadership in the community in addition to a solid product – through service, employment opportunities, civic engagement? Communicate these practices in your newsletters, website, and social media.
Plan for mistakes. Inevitably, your company will make a misstep in communication: an advertisement that falls flat, a poorly handled complaint, or a social faux pas when dealing with current issues. If you prepare ahead of time for how you will handle an internal review, public statement, and commitment to changing behavior, then when a mistake happens, your team can feel more confident that you can approach the situation fairly, calmly, and appropriately. Writing a crisis communications plan that makes the chain of communication, responsibility, and review process clear and available can help employees at all levels navigate their roles in guiding the company back to sure footing. (more…)
POWERHOUSE SERVICE & SUCCESS
Client Profile: Coastal Peach Interiors
Powerhouse Services Provided: Website Development and Design
“Everyone I interacted with at Powerhouse was knowledgeable and professional. They are all on top of their game and provide superior services. The website they designed for me was well above my expectations! I will absolutely be using them again in the future for more of my business needs. Powerhouse is an impressive company that goes above and beyond in professionalism and performance. Their charitable giving is also inspirational and encouraging!”
– Beth Soto, President, Coastal Peach Interiors
