Ponderings from the Perch

In the midst of a global pandemic, companies everywhere are taking a serious look at their marketing strategies. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla and ScaleHouse founder/managing partner Kristin Luck join forces to take a deep look at what constitutes a successful business mindset in these trying times. 

From early decision making, to familiarity with day-to-day expenses, to the importance of helpful communication, Priscilla and Kristin pull from their personal experiences to share what adaptations are the most crucial. They also share projections about how the shape of the workforce will be altered as a result of Covid-19. 

Listen to the whole episode to get a wealth of insight and helpful tactics. Also, do yourself a favor and subscribe to Kristin’s blog posthaste! Stay safe! 

Want to know what it takes to successfully unify a team? Of course you do! Check out this episode, wherein Priscilla shares her top three tools for teamwork unity activation (visual: multicolor power rings in a semicircle!) Guess what? Each tool is centered around a component of communication. 

Learn how Little Bird wrangles intensive project management both internally and externally (Trello), how we bridge the connectivity gap (Slack), and how we share accountability (Standup meetings), in about the amount of time it takes to shower. Heck, listen to it in the shower, if you want!

And now for something completely different! By popular request from the ever-inquisitive listener base of Ponderings from the Perch, this episode centers around sales in the market research space. In order to present a well-rounded picture of successful sales insights, Priscilla phones a friend - actually, three friends! Those three thought leaders are:

In addition to all being members of Women In Research, these three have a keen understanding of what it takes to be successful in the evolving landscape of sales. Get those insights by listening to the full episode! 

Growth, as a business owner, strikes up against a number of obstacles - control issues, financial issues, team dynamics, and perhaps most of all: the stories we tell ourselves, when those stories don’t match up with reality. The truth is, the clutter of these largely-internal struggles create what CEO and host Priscilla McKinney calls “head-trash,” leaving little room for leaders to rise above with clarity and direction. 

In this episode, Priscilla talks with Brad Farris, prolific author, speaker, and Principal Advisor at Anchor Advisors. Brad discusses the ways his firm facilitates transition and growth in both entrepreneurship and leadership, and some of the most common problems he encounters. Having recently transitioned, himself, from a more face-to-face role to one that works in a virtual Mastermind meeting format, Brad has a lot of meaningful and helpful insights about leadership transformation. 

“The thing that made it possible for you to succeed at that prior stage, you have to give that up in order to get into the next stage.”

Anchor Advisors is dedicated to advancing the state-of-the-art in leadership and founder-led businesses, with areas of focus on product/market fit, business development, financial understanding, team development. Check out the Anchor Advisors conversation, and find Brad on LinkedIn and Twitter for more helpful insights.

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SPONSORS:

In partnership with GreenBook, we're excited to host and award one podcast in the insights industry the title and glory of MR Podcast of the Year. 

Know a podcast making (audio) waves in the industry? Nominate them with the form on this page. Nominations are due by February 15th, 2020.

Winner will be decided by vote. Voting will be open February 16th through March 31st.

The winner will be announced on on April 15th at GreenBook's IIeX NA in Austin, TX.

Prost! We’re back from IIeX Europe in beautiful Amsterdam! In addition to presenting in a marketing module with esteemed colleagues from DLA Ignite, Keen as Mustard Marketing, and the Retail Performance Company, Priscilla McKinney chatted with several other presenters and attendees - both during the event and after - to learn what their key takeaways were. Additionally, we received some exceptional tips on making the most of conference season.

Esteemed contributors:

^^Follow all of these people, promptly!

This episode runs an extremely wide gamut of takeaways from the event, touching on social selling, iterative research, relationship building and networking, innovative technologies, and pro tips for maximizing the conference experience. Also, so many great accents!

Across the market research space, specialization is becoming an increasingly sought-after quality - but it can also create an unintended silo effect. In this episode, CEO and Momma Bird Priscilla McKinney talks with SVP and Senior Client Officer of Ipsos, Kris Hull about striking a balance between deep expertise and a broader lens to uncover meaningful insights. Hull discusses the importance of listening and understanding client needs, and shares a mind-shift he calls “suspend your agenda,” that’s helpful in combatting myopic research. 

LIGHTNING ROUND!

Kris’s fave podcasts: Ponderings from the Perch (blush!), Data Gurus with Sima Vasa, and American Fiasco

Fave Apps: Twitter, DuoLingo

Fave Book: East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Fave Blog: The Angry Staff Officer

Connect with Kris on Twitter and LinkedIn!

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SPONSORS:

In partnership with GreenBook, we're excited to host and award one podcast in the insights industry the title and glory of MR Podcast of the Year. 

Know a podcast making (audio) waves in the industry? Nominate them with the form on this page. Nominations are due by February 15th, 2020.

Winner will be decided by vote. Voting will be open February 16th through March 31st.

The winner will be announced on on April 15th at GreenBook's IIeX NA in Austin, TX.

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Digital Transformation Kickstarter

One Day Intensive Workshop for Sales Excellence on LinkedIn

Wednesday, April 8th

TICKETS

Social selling has fundamentally transformed the way consumers gather insight, journey through the buying process and eventually make purchase decisions. This one-day event is a fragment and mini-introduction to the DLA Ignite global program for social selling. This teaching is typically provided only to cohorts of up to 10 within a company on a private basis and is a part of a larger 12-week certification. This is a fast-paced and packed day leading to immediate assignments and action plans for sustained learning. 

One of the most frequent requests we get is to share more information about podcasting. In this episode, Little Bird Marketing CEO and podcast host Priscilla McKinney shares three simple, actionable tips that can be implemented immediately by anyone - whether you’ve been a guest on somebody’s podcast, or are the host of your own! These tips will change your mindset regarding audio content promotion, and help you expand a single podcast appearance into a multifaceted piece of content. 

Sneak peek of the tips:

1. Use your podcast appearance to boost your gravitas as a professional. 

2. Get a transcription of the audio to get more out of the content (ie blog!)

3. Create micro social media content from pulled quotes.

Check out the full episode to start maximizing your efforts. 

SPONSORS:

Digital Transformation Kickstarter

One Day Intensive Workshop for Sales Excellence on LinkedIn

Wednesday, April 8th

TICKETS

Social selling has fundamentally transformed the way consumers gather insight, journey through the buying process and eventually make purchase decisions. This one-day event is a fragment and mini-introduction to the DLA Ignite global program for social selling. This teaching is typically provided only to cohorts of up to 10 within a company on a private basis and is a part of a larger 12-week certification. This is a fast-paced and packed day leading to immediate assignments and action plans for sustained learning. 

In this episode, CEO and Momma Bird Priscilla McKinney talks with President and Founder of Market Dynamics Research Group Sondra Brown. In addition to discussing how to uncover rich insights for companies, the importance of events like CRC (Corporate Researcher’s Conference), and coffee, they also talk about a major shift that MDRG initiated in 2018 and 2019. That change helped refocus the direction of the company - looking closely at deliverables, staff, methodologies and more - it allowed them to continue innovating in the market research mission. 

Sondra tells some of the takeaways from her CRC presentation on French Market Coffee, the importance of empathy in MR, and the best and worst advice she’s ever received.

Lightning round:

Sondra’s Fave Podcast: The Daily from the New York Times / The Next Big Idea 

Fave App: NYT Crossword Puzzle

Fave Book: Multipliers, by Liz Wiseman 

Fave Blog: Next Gen Market Research

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SPONSORS:

In partnership with GreenBook, we're excited to host and award one podcast in the insights industry the title and glory of MR Podcast of the Year. 

Know a podcast making (audio) waves in the industry? Nominate them with the form on this page. Nominations are due by February 15th, 2020.

Winner will be decided by vote. Voting will be open February 16th through March 31st.

The winner will be announced on on April 15th at GreenBook's IIeX NA in Austin, TX.

---

Digital Transformation Kickstarter

One Day Intensive Workshop for Sales Excellence on LinkedIn

Wednesday, April 8th

TICKETS

Social selling has fundamentally transformed the way consumers gather insight, journey through the buying process and eventually make purchase decisions. This one-day event is a fragment and mini-introduction to the DLA Ignite global program for social selling. This teaching is typically provided only to cohorts of up to 10 within a company on a private basis and is a part of a larger 12-week certification. This is a fast-paced and packed day leading to immediate assignments and action plans for sustained learning. 

Success is kind of like the triangulation of GPS systems - nonlinear. In this episode, CEO and Momma Bird Priscilla McKinney talks about her journey to success through the lens of Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller Outliers. Where humanity celebrates a simplified "rags to riches" style tale of human ingenuity, Priscilla opts for a more realistic view that encompasses the bumpy path of entrepreneurship. She dishes on an important success, a devastating failure, a pivotal stroke of luck, and a Matrix-style bullet dodge that shaped her path to running a host of successful businesses. 

If you like this podcast, you'll definitely be interested in Priscilla's blog The Joke of Meritocracy. 

SPONSORS:

In partnership with GreenBook, we're excited to host and award one podcast in the insights industry the title and glory of MR Podcast of the Year. 

Know a podcast making (audio) waves in the industry? Nominate them with the form on this page. Nominations are due by February 15th, 2020.

Winner will be decided by vote. Voting will be open February 16th through March 31st.

The winner will be announced on on April 15th at GreenBook's IIeX NA in Austin, TX.

---

Digital Transformation Kickstarter

One Day Intensive Workshop for Sales Excellence on LinkedIn

Wednesday, April 8th

TICKETS

Social selling has fundamentally transformed the way consumers gather insight, journey through the buying process and eventually make purchase decisions. This one-day event is a fragment and mini-introduction to the DLA Ignite global program for social selling. This teaching is typically provided only to cohorts of up to 10 within a company on a private basis and is a part of a larger 12-week certification. This is a fast-paced and packed day leading to immediate assignments and action plans for sustained learning. 

If you believe pop culture wisdom from the 1980s, you know that to exist in 2020 is to exist in “the future.” We finally made it. And because we live in the future, we have an unbelievable amount of technology that provides volumes and volumes of data on all imaginable subjects. Let’s call that “the rose,” and refer to another 1980s prophesy: “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” The thorn, in this instance, is that it can be extremely difficult to put those volumes and volumes of data to use in a meaningful way. 

In this episode, Priscilla McKinney talks with Carmen Bohoyo, Managing Director of Insights at Kantar about making sense of data in an impactful way that blends technology and human experience. They discuss the importance of innovation, collaboration and celebration in business. Carmen is a fellow member of Women in Research, and is passionate about helping others, through partnerships with Trekking for Kids and Special Olympics. Check out the whole episode for even more insights!

Carmen’s Fave Podcast: Fearless Lover

Fave App: Calm

Fave Book: Reinventing Organizations

SPONSORS:

Digital Transformation Kickstarter

One Day Intensive Workshop for Sales Excellence on LinkedIn

Wednesday, April 8th

TICKETS

Social selling has fundamentally transformed the way consumers gather insight, journey through the buying process and eventually make purchase decisions. This one-day event is a fragment and mini-introduction to the DLA Ignite global program for social selling. This teaching is typically provided only to cohorts of up to 10 within a company on a private basis and is a part of a larger 12-week certification. This is a fast-paced and packed day leading to immediate assignments and action plans for sustained learning. 

---

In partnership with GreenBook, we're excited to host and award one podcast in the insights industry the title and glory of MR Podcast of the Year. 

Know a podcast making (audio) waves in the industry? Nominate them with the form on this page. Nominations are due by February 15th, 2020.

Winner will be decided by vote. Voting will be open February 16th through March 31st.

The winner will be announced on on April 15th at GreenBook's IIeX NA in Austin, TX.