If you have an interest in starting your own business, you should listen to this entrepreneur!

This week I had the opportunity to host a podcast with Ian Leopold, CEO and founder of American Collegiate Intramural Sports. Ian started his career at Leo Burnett and then moved to Frito Lay as an assistant brand manager.

He explains how a young professional can learn from their current employer to cultivate an entrepreneurial niche. “Look at your current job as a learning experience and ask as many questions as you can.”

The key points include
-how the business of marketing works
-where to look for untapped markets that suit your interests
- when the time is right to move out on your own
- research your competitors, what are their shortcomings?
-develop a strategy that will set your company apart

Late last week we taped a podcast with Jonah Bloom, editor of Ad Age. Very bright guy. Spent a good 50% of the conversation talking about when and how brands are successfully overlaying social media to a campaign and also he also provided thoughts as to an additional method for bloggers & those in the social media space with a following to monetize their efforts.

Just an FYI – today, I will be interviewing Jonah Bloom for this week’s episode of Brand Fast Trackers. I’m sure most of you know that Jonah is Editor at Ad Age, the Bible of the ad industry. I’ll be getting his insights on social media, among other things.

This is going to be an extra good one, so keep an eye out and I’ll let you know when it’s up.

As VP of marketing for one of the fastest growing OTC companies in the world, we assumed that Tim Connors was marketing his brand a bit differently than most. After all, to post 30% growth at a time when time the majority brands we speak with are cutting their 08 & 09 forecasts is pretty remarkable. In this episode we dive into some of the things that Tim and his brand team are doing differently…shifting their media mix to connect with consumers in new ways, embracing product experience, intelligently testing social media…all around a messaging platform that resonates with and influences consumers to act.

Click here to listen to this episode

Once you understand how the brain functions, as a marketer, you can better influence your target consumer

How can market researchers draw meaningful conclusions about a product or ad campaign when many consumers are unwilling or unable to share their honest opinions? Branding expert Martin Lindstrom thinks he’s found a way to solve this advertising dilemma with a revolutionary “neuroimaging” technique that taps directly into unfettered brainwaves. The best-selling author spoke recently with Brand Connections’ CEO & Founder Brian F Martin about every marketer’s dream – consumers’ innermost thoughts – and shared the science behind his latest book, Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.

With published works already translated into more than 25 languages and recognition from The Wall Street Journal for penning one of the top five marketing books of all time, it’s safe to say Lindstrom is a seriously-decorated student of marketing to the mind. Just 38-years-old, he has been involved in the agency business for over a quarter-century – stretching back to childhood days of backyard Legoland buildings; and the subsequent trademark infringement warnings. His pre-teen plastic brick creations were a little too attention grabbing, according Lego’s legal team, but faced with the choice of renaming his own personal Legoland or closing up shop, Lindstrom tacked in a typically different direction. “I opened up my own little advertising agency when I was 12 years of age, and guess who was my first client was – Lego. It’s been a client of mine ever since.”

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