Ponderings From The Perch

Grappling hooks? Check. Ski masks? Affirmative. Lookout van in the parking lot? Yep! Get ready, because in this episode, Priscilla and Matt Koenig, Owner and Chief Developer at MK Web Development, are hacking into the mainframe of web development knowledge. In this heretofore uncompromised maximum security vault of information, questions are everywhere, and answers are like unto shadows. Priscilla and Matt get straight to the heart of things, answering tough questions like:Why the heck is my site so slow?What questions should I ask of a hosting service?What plugins should I be running on my Wordpress site?And more!Matt offers practical and helpful advice on database optimization, firewalls, backups, and image size, and Priscilla recounts the tale of the mysteriously windy website. Resource links:PingdomGoogle page insightsGT MetricsSmush, Imagefy, Shortpixel - are WP plugins that downsize too big photos Like it? Love it? Want some more of it? Let us know by leaving a review on iTunes!Learn more

What does it mean to be in the front seat of a female-driven market research company? In this episode of the Flock Stars WIRe Miniseries, Priscilla interviews Katrina Noelle of KNow Research and Scoot Insights.“We landed on ‘female-driven’ because that is who is behind the wheel of our team. It’s come out of a personal history, for me, of endorsing and supporting women in the research industry because that’s how I’ve ended up where I am.”Katrina Noelle is a self-proclaimed “time-zone agnostic” and president of KNow Research. For over 15 years, KNow Research has been designing custom qualitative research design for clients by combining methodologies from traditional in-person research with online and mobile approaches. To serve even more qualitative research needs, Katrina co-founded Scoot Insights, an agile qualitative methodology provider.To describe her companies, Katrina regularly uses the terms “boots on the ground” and “front lines.” Why? Because her team does it all. From meeting with clients to collect

“To blog or not to blog?” A question you’ve probably asked yourself a time or two as a business owner. So what’s the answer? In this episode of the Little Bird Marketing company podcast, Momma Bird - Priscilla McKinney and Content Marketing Specialist - Ashley Le Blanc explore the benefits and complexity of blogging.“Blogging - it's been around for a while now and seems like it might just be something that anyone can do, but we're here to say, maybe not everyone should be doing it, and if you are doing it, maybe you should have a strategy.”Here’s the reality - the internet is exploding with content. There are millions of articles posted daily and you can't beat it by posting more. That's right— there's no point in adding clutter. To see ROI on your blogs, you need to focus on the quality of your content and how well you’re answering the questions of your ideal customer.“This is a bigger question than just writing words that go on your website. It's about reaching your ideal client. Not just any client, not ju

Welcome to Flock Stars! These bite-size episodes feature the movers and shakers in marketing, advertising and surrounding industries. Our first season is all about Women In Research and each minisode will feature an inspiring woman who attended the 2018 WIRexec Leadership Summit. In this first episode, Priscilla McKinney interviews Kristin Luck– Ponderings from the Perch vet, supporter of women and Founder of WIRe.“There’s so much direction in what we need to change to be successful, versus really stepping into understanding what our strengths are as women and as business leaders.”Kristin is a serial entrepreneur and a globetrotting, internationally recognized keynote speaker on marketing measurement. She’s a futurist and growth hacking expert, specializing in nontraditional marketing and branding strategies. In 2007, Kristin was inspired to start WIRe after connecting with 50 women in the market research industry over drinks. Since that first cocktail mixer, WIRe has grown to become a global not-for-profit o

When’s the last time you practiced the art of being selfish? Before you tell on us for using the “s-word,” let us explain. We’re talking about carving out time for self-exploration and inquiry. This week on the Little Bird Marketing company podcast, we brought in an expert on the journey to finding your authentic self.In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney is joined by Sarah Marshank - entrepreneur and author. Sarah started Selfistry, a comprehensive integrative educational system for mastering the art of being human. She’s also the author of the “Being Selfish: My Journey for Escort to Monk to Grandmother.” Based in the SF Bay Area, Sarah teaches and speaks internationally, offers online courses, consults with corporate clients and works one-on-one with individuals.Sarah’s inspiring conversation with Priscilla is filled with questions like, “How do we become the author of our own life?” and important insights like, “There is nothing wrong with continuing to grow ourselves.”If you’re

She’s done it– Priscilla McKinney, Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, has turned 100 (in podcast years). To celebrate, she’s teamed up with friend and co-host Dan Leadbetter for a special show!This episode is packed full of throwbacks, true stories, entrepreneurial insights and guest appearances.“I still remember all of those milestones. As the company progresses and you bring new people on, it’s important to tell the story– as it was.”Making it to episode 100 wouldn’t be possible without our amazing guests, staff and, of course, listeners. A giant thank you to all of our the Ponderings from the Perch alumni, including the ones featured in this episode:Doug Sandler Maribeth Kuzmeski David Reimherr Tim Hughes Rachel O’Meara Deirdre Breakenridge Tony Cheevers Beck McKinneySawyer McKinneySteve McKinneyAlso, don’t miss our announcement about our NEW upcoming mini-series. Flock Stars premieres Friday, September 28th and you won’t want to miss it– so subscribe on iTunes!

We all know the saying, “teamwork makes the dream work,” but in this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney and guest Deirdre Breakenridge of the Women Worldwide podcast prove that networking can be one of the most valuable tools for your business.Sharing in their love of communication, marketing and podcasting, Deirdre and Priscilla share their biggest networking successes and the mediums that facilitated them. Each using their podcast as their vessel, these two marketing badasses have mastered the art of getting the most out connections.Deirdre shares, “Your [podcast] guests are an opportunity to do something together…That guest in the seat is really important.”In addition to learning how Deirdre grew her podcast to 5,000 organic listens per episode, you’ll gain these insights on podcasting:AdvertisingMeasuring ROINailing the fundamentalsGive Deirdre’s podcast, Women Worldwide, a listen (we suggest this interview with Jennifer Wilkov) on iTunes or C-Suite Radio.Like what you hear? Let us k

Is your content geared to reach your ideal client? When it comes to marketing strategy, one of the biggest mistakes businesses make is failing to identify their ideal client. In this episode of the Little Bird Marketing podcast, Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney and Dan Leadbetter explore the topic of buyer personas.“Buyer personas give you the research you need to create content and messages for the person who is most likely to buy your product.”Throughout the episode, Priscilla shares her experience and the tips she’s learned creating buyer personas for clients and for her own business. The buyer persona drum is one she beats often - catch more content on this topic on our blog or in our free Ideal Client Personas guide!Are you ready to get the most out of your marketing budget? Tune-in to this episode and do your buyer persona homework.Like what you hear? Subscribe to Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes and while you’re there, leave us a rating and review.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney teams up with her podcast sister– Maribeth Kuzmeski of the Female Insight Zone podcast and Red Zone Marketing. Throughout the episode, the two share insights from their experiences as entrepreneurs, marketers and podcast hosts.Maybe you're a podcaster looking to take your craft to the next level, or maybe you're just an avid listener who appreciates the nuances of the medium... either way, you're in for a treat as Maribeth shares the strategies she uses for her podcast, the Female Insight Zone. Want a sneak peak?“If you listen to really good interviewers, people who actually want to get to the heart of something, they’re doing a little research - they’re doing some background - they’re not just hitting start and then just reading the bio. You’ve got to know something about the people you’re interviewing so you can come up with really good questions.”Give this episode a listen for more podcast tips and advice on altering your marketing message to

With all of the headlines about Facebook’s privacy policy and algorithm changes, you’ve probably been left scratching your head and asking questions like: How is my Facebook feed going to change? How do I get more interactions on my Facebook business page? Why did Mark Zuckerberg have to testify before Congress? And why doesn’t he ever blink?In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney, Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, is back with Dan Leadbetter. Join them as they discuss the ever-changing world of digital media.Whether you're up-to-date on the newest Facebook algorithm changes or stuck in the days of dial-up Internet, this episode will give you tips on improving your Facebook marketing strategy.Tune-in as Priscilla and Dan discuss:Major Facebook changes over the yearsWhy buyer personas are important for your social media marketing strategyHow to get the most out of Facebook advertisingWant more information on how you can use Facebook for your business? Check out the Little Bi

If The Office taught us anything, it’s that managing people is harder than it looks. From creating an enjoyable work environment to fostering creativity and innovation, being a good boss takes practice, intention and a little bit of skill. While Priscilla is definitely not Michael Scott, in this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, she reveals which fictional boss she identifies with most. Tune-in as Priscilla answers questions about leadership styles, creating stellar office culture and supporting your employees.Here’s a sneak peek of the questions she answers in this week’s episode:What’s your first memory of being a leader?What characteristics does it take to be a good leader and boss?What is your biggest management mistake?What’s your biggest management accomplishment?How do you get to know your employees and their work styles?What’s one piece of advice for bosses and one for employees?Like it? Love it? Want some more of it? Let us know by leaving a review on iTunes!“I guess the attitude that I've tried

If you’ve ever needed something in the realm of market research, you’re probably familiar with the name GreenBook. The GreenBook Directory is a vast online resource of marketing research suppliers, facilities, and consultants. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, the Little Bird Marketing Podcast, Priscilla McKinneyinterviews Dana Stanley– Director of Operations at GreenBook.Once a literal green book, GreenBook has grown to be the go-to resource for market research. Outside their online directory, they’ve developed a series of worldwide conferences (IIEX), the infamous Insights Marketing Day and heaps of helpful (and downloadable) content.Tune-in as Priscilla and Dana talk:Go-to market research conferencesEncouraging innovation in your industrySpeaking and presenting tipsLike what you hear? Subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on iTunes.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In observation of National Take Your Kid To Work Day, Priscilla and Beck McKinney co-host a special edition of Ponderings from the Perch. In doing so, they learn more about each other, and verily, more about themselves in the process.Beck has prepared a special pop quiz full of insightful questions for Priscilla about entrepreneurship, motivators, goals, and the importance of the silence during the Masters. Priscilla turns the tables back on Beck to find out why he thinks the office is slightly boring, and which of the Peeps is the most hilarious (spoiler: it’s Kahlief).Join us for what is guaranteed to be the sweetest podcast you will listen to on any given day (except maybe that one podcast that’s just a bunch of kittens purring).Love our show? Don't forget to give us a great review on iTunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when you put two thought leaders in the same room? In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla McKinney, Momma Bird and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, and Dan Leadbetter explore the different roles of thought leaders.After getting asked the same question at numerous speaking engagements, Priscilla honed in on the topic of thought leadership. Whether they acknowledge it or not, Priscilla explains, “Companies are built around thought leadership.” Identifying and amplifying your thought leadership style can give your brand the advantage in your industry.At this point, you might be asking, “But how do I know what my thought leadership style is?” Don’t fret! Our “What Kind of Thought Leader Are You?” quiz will tell you that very thing. In this episode, Priscilla (the Radical) and Dan (the Visionary) compare their leadership styles after taking the quiz.In addition to thought leadership, Priscilla and Dan dive into the topic of content marketing. They discuss:How to develop unique content fo

Join a fun-filled podcast with design wiz Simon Dunn, from Keen As Mustard Marketing, as he and Priscilla discuss holistic marketing strategy methods, data visualization, and the importance of industry networking.Simon, with Keen as Mustard, has been finding new ways for agencies to understand research and insights for the past ten years, with an indisputable understanding of the complexities of the field.“You don’t just do a new brand, or launch a new website, sit back and wait for the work to come in. It’s all about actually doing all of those things, joining them up, having a plan - segmentations - targeting. It’s a whole joined-up web of stuff that you’re doing - and you do need to be doing all of them. And for quite a long time!”In addition to providing marketing research PR and media relations, Keen as Mustard also helped develop Viz-Fest, an annual 4-day webinar full of market research insights.While the discussion is rife with extremely serious industry discussion, Simon and Priscilla find time to rem

Join Priscilla McKinney, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing as she chats with Kathrin O'Sullivan, organizational development consultant, facilitator, executive coach, and extraordinary public speaker. O'Sullivan is a twelve-year veteran of Google, where she most recently served as Leadership Development Manager, and has studied with some of the most distinguished thought leaders in her field.  Priscilla and Kathrin discuss the complexities of effecting change through coaching in an organization, and how it can often resemble the efforts of steering a giant boat. O'Sullivan brings a fresh and progressive viewpoint to the topic of how individuals and teams relate to their work. "From a company perspective, it’s like, ‘How can we help people become more productive in their work?’ And you do this by helping people - or, at least it’s my personal philosophy - enjoy their work more. The more they enjoy their work, the more they will collaborate, and the better the results will be."They also discu

In this episode, Priscilla McKinney, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing chats with Fritz Grutzner, founder and President of Brandgarten. As a brand strategy consultant with 30 years of brand-building experience for Fortune 500s and non-profits in the U.S. and abroad, he shares his insights about how emotion drives behavior. His superpower involves identifying emotional insights and drivers of brand choice, helping organizations discover their most compelling, authentic brand story and teaching them to tell it in a consistent way.While Brandgarten is primarily a strategy firm they do a lot of in-depth marketing research, because their strategies depend on having deep human insights. Fritz pontificates on his perspective about brand building and delivering actionable insights from the research. In the end, their team works with client to: understand the latest brain research and how to deal with the 95% of our cognitive activity that is really subconscious.help brands tell memorable stories instea

Want to know what makes a blog successful? Join Priscilla McKinney, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing as she chats with Kyle Drenon, Director of Marketing at Murney Associates in Springfield, MO. After attending Mozcon 4 years ago, he details his slightly-Jerry Maguire story about how he came back to his job ready to take his company's marketing a new direction. Find out what happened next to bring this man, this myth, this Springfield, MO lifestyle guru to leading a small but mighty team making real estate fun again. “Our strategy on content creation is to sell more than just a house; we’re selling a community, too.” From this concept came a fresh batch of blogs people actually want to read. “We felt like we were uniquely qualified to speak about that because we’re in those communities every day. It was a natural fit to start writing a lifestyle blog about Springfield and the surrounding areas.”In this podcast they tackle not only strategy and tips for good content, but they also talk about th

Are you desperate to know what kind of fruit you are?Need to know who is your celebrity style icon? First, join Priscilla McKinney, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing as she chats with Josh Haynam of Interact, a quiz software company. In this episode we ask:When was the last time you took a fun quiz?When was the last time you took a meaningful quiz?And, for the purposes of this show,When was the last time someone took a quiz and it turned into a sale for your business?Yup, Josh is the founder of Interact where their software helps businesses and non-profits create quizzes to not only boost brands, but generate leads. But "Why?" you ask. Why do businesses need to create quizzes for lead generation success? Well, according to an IBM study, email marketing has an ROI of 43x, meaning that for every $1 spent on email marketing you’ll earn $43 back. Email is also the way businesses SECURE their ownership of direct access to their potential customer base. So, growing your business email list is incredi

Priscilla and the gang (not to be confused with Kool and the Gang) bring to you the Little Bird Marketing second annual Holiday Spirit Variety Show: Spectacular! Spectacular! Get your cup of cocoa, sit back in front of a roaring fire (either in the fireplace, or the YouTube looped video if you are a millennial) and soak in the entertainment, interviews, original music and general nonsense as you break through your deepest desire to know the "peeps" more intimately (except for Ryan). Do you love us yet? All we want for Christmas is a 5-star iTunes rating from...you!Because we love you, here are all of the links to help you through the maze of wonderment and autoharp grandeur: Priscilla:Into Great Silence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK1FGpd03IgOzark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAXVqrljbsS-Town: https://stownpodcast.org/Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance: https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit: https://www.amazon.c