DishyMix

Thisepisodeis for anyone dependent on direct sales teams for revenue in the digital media and technology sales industry. According to Doug, the market has radically shifted -- TWICE. Have YOU adjusted your business culture, operations, staffing and revenue expectations to the way the market is NOW?

Do you understand the difference between ad networks and ad exchanges? If you don't. Now you must.

Do you know why the online media market numbers took a big dump in Q407 and Q108? Do you know why they are predicted to be low in the first half of '08 and are you prepared? Do you know how to prevent your company's revenue from bottoming out?

Find out what Doug calls "the network effect." In this case it's not good. But you can counteract it by training your team to be "Digital Sellers 3.0." Doug tells you how in this helpful show. Is your sales team set up to fail? How can you affect a turn around to a consultative sales/ How do youchangeyour staff from "RFP Order Takers" to early-cycle strategic big-deal sellers? How do you differentiate yourself through your sales people and staunch the tide of commoditization of online media?

Doug gives you a clear path to success, rather than expecting you to make a Faustian bargain for change. This is one of the most actionable, helpful shows ever done on DishyMix to truly affect your business, your revenue and your future. Tune in. Learn. Change. Go!

Meet Mark Silva, managing director of independent San Francisco interactive agency Real Branding. Mark is an ad veteran, social media geek, beer maven and painter to name just a few of his dalliances. Real Branding artfully blends the innovative perspective of digital pioneers with the business rigor of a buttoned-up agency. The company occupies an old can factory in the up and coming "Dogpatch" area of San Francisco.Beer is where it all started for Real Branding. Mark is a beer maven, having tasted over 2,500 brews. He started RealBeer.com in 1994 and soon picked up a number of local micro-brew clients for digital marketing. He's parlayed his experience in the adult beverage business into one of thehottest independent shops in the country, managing digital brand strategy for such stellar names as ABC/Disney, Anheuser Busch, Darden Restaurants, ESPN, HBO, Pepsi's Lipton partnership and Unilever.

Mark talks about who he follows in the agency world to keep up with the industry and how he does it. Find out his Twitter strategy, how he creates and manages his blog, MarkSilva.com and his take on social media. Mark says "every agency should include customers' social maps as an agency best practice." Clearly Real Branding is taking market segmentation and persona development to a new level.

Susan and Mark discuss an online video by Loic Le Meur, the CEO of video site Seesmic. Seesmic lets you record video right from your computer's camera in your browser and then uploading it to your Seesmic account, your blog or your website. In Episode #115 on loic.tv, Loic quotes a NY Times writer who says "if the news is important, it will find me." It's a remarkable video that shows how much the manner in which we consume news content is changing. Loic's point being that if it's relevant to him, the information will come to him via one of his feeds and that he no longer must go to news sites as news comes to him. This is a big, directional demarcation point in the evolution of the web that did not go undetected by Mark. Mark is a watchdog for these shifts, informing his client strategies through these insights.

On this episode, you also learn about the "New School of Beer" where the Americans are making funky, yeasty beers in Chardonnay and Pinot casks that even the Belgians are imitating. Mark gives his a complete list of what to buy (Dogfish Head, Allagash) and where to find the rarebottlingson the DishyMix.com blog. Find out what Mark's "greatest truth" is about marriage. Learn about his holy grail of the liberation that comes from getting beyond fear, and why it's so important in the sphere of loving and being loved. And speaking of love,Mark talks about rediscovering his love of painting. You can see some of his work on the DishyMix blog, including some photos from his Flickr stream.

This show has some great insights, ideas and recommendations from a man you will hear more and more about in the future. Get to know Mark Silva on this episode of DishyMix.

On this episode, I bring listeners up to speed on how I weave together running a start up, sitting on boards, co-managing an industry association and producing my own weekly audio show and companion blog, DishyMix. If you think about me only in the context of ad:tech, or only know me from DishyMix, or only know me as the Vice Chair of the Association for Downloadable Media, read on.

I'm one busy girl and take a moment on my own show to share my work and a few of my personal travails -- not to self-aggrandize -- but to encourage you to step up in a way that works for you.

This show includes:

· Running 21st Century Mom & Pop Shop

· Intimacy, Connection and Honesty in Marriage

· Promoting Myself Through Social Media

· Serving on Board of Directors/Advisors

· How to Give Back to Your Industry

· Indulging My Passion for Exploring the Personal Power of the Famous People in Our Industry

I'm driven to connect with people. My "special purpose" is to divine the unique talents and value that an individual offers and to want to support, promote and celebrate that. That's why I do my weekly DishyMix show - I want to find out what drives the titans of our industry and how they've leveraged their capabilities to create their success. My aim is to help others model success through the insights I can uncover in my interviews.

In nearly every episode of DishyMix my guests repeatedly offer slight variations on two themes that are their secret to success. First, "no regrets." Simply, don't look back. Don't focus on what you've done, focus on where you are going. Secondly, take the risk. Every time they've taken the risk, they've ultimately prospered. Playing it safe doesn't pay off for these winners.

I am taking my guests' advice. I've taken the risk to launch a new company, Personal Life Media, with my husband. That's a double risk: launch a start up AND do it with your spouse! But I love it and believe we have massive potential for aggregating an important audience of "cultural creatives" driving the "renaissance generation" as well as the ability to deliver technology of great interest to a publisher who just can't move as fast as we, a nimble Web 2.0 start up. It's both a lifestyle company and a potentially appealing acquisition.

Perhaps more interestingly, you'll hear the story of my nearly failed marriage and the abject pain that drove me to the changes I had to make in my life. This "work" resulted in a re-bonding to my husband so strongit would have been painful to drive away from him to go to a job everyday. We started Personal Life Media together to give voice to the roster of experts in personal growth and relationship who reconnected us to a depth we never thought possible. We have the intimate connection everyone wants and few know how to achieve.

On Personal Life Media we have created a platform of shows that provide a depth and authenticity about relationships, consciousness and connection that you cannot find anywhere else in the world. Truly special content - I encourage you to check it out.

It's also been risky to launch an industry association (ADM) and drive standards in an industry (podcasting) fraught with rugged individualists who prefer to defy authority and cleave to few. Luckily I'm surrounded in call cases by amazing partners.

I've taken risks to join boards of fledgling start ups and support them in needs ranging fromsales training and sales team organization andmotivation, product positioning, pricing, business modeling, strategic planning, market positioning, naming, branding, ID, market segmentation, persona creation, messaging matrices, PR strategies and plans, new business launches and my most esoteric but best skill, CEO encouragement and support. Some of the companies with which I'm currently engaged include ZEDO,NewsForce, (800) FREE-411, Merchant Circle, Collarity, Powered and a new stealth start up founded by one of my heros, Tony Robbins, called My Vision One.

And on this show, I celebrate more ways to give back, beautifully illustrated by this year'sad:tech Limelight Award "Industry Achievement" Winners: Rich LeFurgy, Archer; Kate Thorp, Real Girls Media and Pete Blackshaw of Nielsen Buzz Metrics.

Jump in. Get involved. Bring your talents to industry associations, industry events and conferences through sharing what you know, selflessly blog great information for the rest of us to model, mentor someone coming up through the ranks, serve on a board, or take a page out of an Industry Achievement winner's play book. It's time to step up.

And if my show helps enrich your thinking, will you forward it to a friend or colleague? I'm trying to double my audience and I welcome your support.

If we're not connected on LinkedIn or Facebook, send me a request!

And will you take my listener survey? It's anonymous, takes less than 5 minutes and helps me with my sponsors. You know how important market data is!

Thanks again for listening. I really appreciate your precious time. Let me know any comments or ideas you have about DishyMix. I am in service to you.

Meet Vince Thompson, online celebrity host of Dog & Pony show, author of "Ignited: Managers, Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power, More Purpose and More Success," and founder of Middleshift, a consulting company that helps Internet companies build sales and biz dev teams to drive online ad revenue.

If you are NOT the CEO, this show is for you. Vince tells us how to be successful in our current organization. You will understand your manager'simplicitand explicit needs so you manage to your boss' universe. You'll learn how to close the relationship gap with the cross-functional peers in your company and how to effectively lead in highly-matrixedand decentralized organizations.

You'll learn the dangers of "pot-banging" and how to engage "cave people" as well as the "committed" and "compliant." Vince will help you understand not just the power of networking but why people network and what people need from you. You'll learn about The Bigger Yes and why "F-U money" can be just a state of mind and still work.

Enjoy figuring out your workplace archetype. Are you the process master? The link maker? The translator? The scout?And follow Vince's 5-Step Program to True Balance. It's easy and holds you accountable in a refreshing way.

Even if you hate your current job (50% of middle managers do!) Vince will show you how to have more power, more purpose and more success. You'll understand what your "valueproposition" is, and more importantly, so will those above, below and beside you. This is the best DishyMix EVER if you are working your way up in the world. Tune in, pass it along and get out your pencil. You're going to want to take notes!

Gina ("bee-yon-kini") has recently rocked the social media world with the valuation she's created ($60 mil on a $500 mil pre) at Ning. A white label social network platform, Ning has over a quarter of a million implementations ranging from "Hip Hop Is Us" to "Powerful Intentions: The Law of Attraction," taking long-tail passions to a whole new level of interaction. A number of these groups sport members over 100,000 strong!

DishyMix listeners sent in nearly 50 questions in a single day for Susan to pose to Gina in this interview. This episode is dedicated to the active DishyMix audience who want to know about the Ning platform, monetization, how to create a successful network, the enterprise space and of course, personal questions about Gina.*

On this eipsode, Gina describes the power of "viral expansion loops," how best to attract members to a social network, social media monetization and how she handles being called a "high tech hottie."

Tune in to learn more about this recent Fast Company magazine cover story CEO.

*Gina shares her Chicken Fajita recipe (the magic is in the marinade) and a list of developers who specialize in business integration of the Ning platform on the DishyMix blog at dishymix.com.

Meet Joe Pine, co-author of a Time magazine cover story "Synthetic Authenticity" heralding his latest book "Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want." In a world where everything seems fake and we've reached a "toxic level of inauthenticity," Joe steers us forward as marketers, helping us render our brands authentic in a world where advertising is a "phoniness generating machine."

Joe breaks down the reasons why as a culture we crave more authentic experiences and how we self-actualize through consumption. You'll get a view into our culture and our needs as humans. Joe even rates Personal Life Media as a brand and talks about going beyond creating experiences to creating transformations with our products and services.

Listen to this episode, then go back and listen to Patricia Martin, author of "RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What it Means to Your Business" on a recent DishyMix. The two dovetail beautifully and help determine how we should position our brand in today's market.

Get great advice from industry icon, Annette Tonti, founder of Blue Streak who is launching her second digital media company, MoFuse. The 122 million blogs worldwide make perfect "media snacking" content to view from your phone. Annette is helping bloggers make their blogs "phone ready," tracking readers and monetizing the content via the mobile channel.

Annette says women start businesses at two times the rate of men but don't have easy access to significant venture money. Hear her story of raising capital - almost $30 million in funding. Get advice on how to lead, not react, to the market with your business planning and why that's a must.

Susan and Annette talk about mentoring and the right steps to getting advice from those you most respect. These helpful tips and specific ideas will help you get the kind of advice you need from those most well suited to give it to you -- the post powerful and successful people in their category.

Annette weighs in on the state of the climate crisis and her experience getting trained by Al Gore's team on his climate project. She shares the axiom by which she leads her life by quoting Frank Lloyd Wright -- a "power of intention" discussion ensues...

The end of the show gets into the future of social media. What does the world look like when we're past Open Social? Hear Annette's concept of the "social media engine" and "connected intelligence."

Another Dishy episode full of wisdom, laughs and happenings on the rocky road of life.

Jason Heller is a guy who just wants to give back. He wants to tell you everything he knows about digital media buying and selling. He wants to show you the beauty of sharks through his underwater photography so they will stop getting harvested for soup. He wants to live a life of honesty and humbleness to set an example for the world. Jason Heller is a cool guy, living an amazing life that perfectly suits him.

Life wasn't always this great for Jason. He's had some hard knocks, and made some questionable decisions he's regretted - temporarily. But he's believed in synchronicity since he called it "the power of positive thinking" in high school.

When Jason is fulfilling his duties as EVP at Laredo Group, a training company that teaches digital media to online buyers and sales pros, he trains the biggest agencies in the business --- all the names you'd know. Jason gets pure pleasure from sharing his 12 years of agency experience with those he trains, now that he's sold his agency, Mass Transit, to Horizon Media. Jason beautifully balances dual careers, the first - training. His "other" career is underwater photography.

Learn about Jason's axiom, his mentors, and his travels to Southeast Asia. Learn the subtle differences between Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Hear the story of how he swam with and photographed more than 1,000 hammerhead sharks. (see the photo on theDishyMixblog) and catch Jason's deep thinking on his blog,The Digital Blur, where you can also see hisColumbian Drug Lord Alter Ego caricature.

This is a heart warming and entertaining episode of DishyMix. Learn how Jason gets the work/life balance just right. And you can too.

In this 50th celebratory episode of DishyMix on Personal Life Media, enjoy this live, in-studio interview with bon vivant Sean X. Cummings.

Sexy, funny, informative, irreverent, and serious, this interview with Sean reveals a man who has struggled with the dichotomy of advertising and his sacred soul. Trip along Sean's career path from agency guy working on Nike, MSNBC, Miller and Corona beer, Hyatt and American Airlines to client-side marketer at American Express and Ask.com. A free agent now, Sean gives us his filters for deciding what a good career move might be in today's market. Find out what he thinks are the hot digital up and comer categories and why start ups may not be worth the effort if work/life balance is your desire. Get advice if you are thinking about a career change. Discover why Kiva.org is the best venture-funded start up he knows and why he's driven to find ways to give back to the universe.

Life is what Sean desires, and as much of it as he can get. In his journey for the perfect woman with whom to have a "fully open hearted love" relationship, we check in and see what's keeping him busy on his quest. Hear about his favorite Pacific Coast Highway drives on his Ducati. Why he's not a great Buddhist, only a good one. (His favorite book to recommend is "Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das.) Find out what Sean learned recovering from a nearly fatal stroke that left him without speech or motor skills and how it changed his life. One thing Sean realized is that chicks do not dig a man who drools... Hmmm...that's enough motivation right there!

Oh yes, and the "X." Of course I got the story on that. And you can read Sean's column, The X Factor, on iMedia Connection.

Tune in to hear some crazy stuff in this no holds barred, very personal interview where we weave from "WiFi Thighs" to Social Media PR to how to be a fantastic father.

Andy debuted "Radically Transparent," his book on online reputation management, this March. He said writing it pushed his edge harder than anything he's done so far in his life. It shows. This is a great book, chock full of step-by-step instructions and applicable examples that culminates in a "7 Step Action Plan" to execute your strategic goals for creating, understanding, managing, growing and if necessary, repairing the online reputation of you and/or your company.

Andy balances his advice with both personal and professional wisdom. From offering a "how to develop your personal brand" with "DIY reputation monitoring" for the guerilla marketer in all of us to more business-oriented objectives including the specific steps to execute a social media-optimized press release and how to leverage a videogenic CEO.

One of the gems of this interview is Andy's explicit instructions for targeting top bloggers in your space with your story. How can you tell who the best bloggers are for your news? Which bloggers might be interested in covering you? The secret in finding your most aligned targets is through the beauty of cross-tabbing data-points. Compare blog site traffic on Compete.com. Get a vibe for "citations" and the level of respect a blogger engenders from traditional media by checking if they've been quoted via Google News. Use Google Search to see which bloggers rank for your target keywords and phrases. Check the number of in-bound links a blogger gets and from whom they get them on Yahoo! Site Explorer. Type in your keywords and phrases and sort by "Authority" on Technorati. These are just some of the ideas Andy gives for helping you get your arms around the tricky process of targeting bloggers as a media channel.

Andy does a marvelous job explaining his new service, Trackur, which is like Google Alerts on anti-oxidant, pomegranate infused martinis. (Yum!) With Trackur's online reputation tracking technology you can keep track of any web content that mentions your name. Not just your personal name, but your executives, your company brands, and even your competition. And instead of filling up your inbox with Alerts, you get an optional dashboard, filters and all kinds of trend analysis.

Twitter - what would DishyMix be without a mention of Twitter and/or Facebook? Andy leverages the collective knowledge or "crowd sourcing" of his 2,500 followers to learn about the market, test his ideas and promote his book and blog, MarketingPilgrim. Then he wraps up the show by taking us on a mental tour of his favorite spot in Hawaii. Sigh. I can feel the tropical air brushing my skin right now.