Jane Atkinson
Jane Atkinson has been helping speakers catapult their businesses for nearly 20 years. As a former speaker's agent, she has represented numerous speakers who have vaulted to the top 3% of the industry including Vince Poscente, Peter Legge and Joe Calloway (all CSP/CPAE's**).
In Jane's role as an agent, she often took speakers from 0 to 80 engagements per year at very high fees. What was her secret? Her ability to choose speakers with high levels of talent (no amount of marketing can overcome a mediocre speech), combined with her marketing formula. Jane worked with them to develop focused and effective marketing materials and then implemented a consistent, long term sales and marketing strategy.
Being able to understand a client's needs is a key in the speaking industry and Jane spent over a decade on the front line selling to them and working through to speech completion.
Jane went on to work as Vice President for International Speakers Bureau in Dallas, TX managing their Exclusive Speakers Division. There she represented celebrities like boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and President of Washington Wizards Basketball, Susan O'Malley. Also included in the ISB roster were bestselling authors like Gary Hoover of hoovers.com and the Swedish authors of Funky Business, Jonas Ridderstrale, and Kjell Nordstrom.
Spending a total of 6 years under the roof of a bureau gave Jane some keen insights into the industry. Not only did she see hundreds of speaker's marketing materials (the good, the bad and the ugly) but she learned the keys to building long term profitable relationships with bureaus.
Currently, Jane is a full time business coach and consultant dealing exclusively with professional speakers, celebrities and CEO's. Her clients are the who's who and the up-and-comers of the speaking world. She is often asked to speak at National Speakers Association and Canadian Association of Professional Speakers conferences and Chapter meetings.
Jane Atkinson, Speaker Launcher
JANE'S SITE - http://www.speakerlauncher.com
>> Canada: 519-951-6934
>> US: 415-670-9516
>> Skype: speakerlauncher
Drayton Bird
The CIM named Drayton Bird one of 50 people who shaped today’s marketing. And David Ogilvy said he “knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.”
But don't blame him for all the crap you get sent.
He published his first novel, “Some rats run faster” when 27. Hardly anyone read this brilliant work as it had virtually no plot. 4 more books followed: “Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing” – out in 17 languages; “Salesletters that sell” & “Marketing Insights and Outrages” and "Direct Marketing for Lawyers".
He's written over 1,000 columns, spoken in 50 countries and worked with many leading brands, incl. Amex, BA, Hargreaves Lansdown, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, P & G, IBM, Unilever and Visa. In 1977, he and two partners set up Trenear-Harvey, Bird & Watson, sold in l985 to O&M. As Vice-Chairman and Creative Director, he helped O&M Direct become the world's largest DM agency network, and was elected to the worldwide Ogilvy Group board.
He now runs Drayton Bird Associates and has interests in 3 other firms.
The ones he never visits do much better.
Drayton Bird Audio... Uncommon Commonsense in Marketing
Drayton Bird's Website - http://www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com/
PS: I also have another interview with Drayton Bird that you may be interested in here.
Julie Freedman Smith
Julie Freedman Smith and Gail Bell founded Parenting Power in January, 2002.
They had two goals: to help parents feel capable in meeting their parenting challenges and to create a successful business, enabling them to be present with their children as they grew, supporting their families with time and devotion. Julie and Gail started out doing small presentations for free in schools and community centers. Nine years and 4 children later, things have continued to grow. Parenting Power is a well-known brand in their home city of Calgary, Alberta and serves clients throughout Canada and the United States of America. 
Julie and Gail were featured weekly as the parenting experts for Citytv’s Breakfast Television and currently contribute bi-weekly to CBC Radio’s province-wide program Alberta@Noon and CTV’s Noon Show. They have written hundreds of articles and have contributed to The Mompreneur Magazine. Both are quoted regularly in numerous publications and newspapers, including the National Post and the Globe and Mail.
Parenting Power has received praise from individual parents, schools and corporations for their humorous and educational key note speeches, workshops and coaching sessions. Their presentations recharge and recommit parents, leaving them with tools to use and resulting in a belief that they can make the changes they need to be the parents and people they wish to be.
Through their interactions in the media, in person or via their ebooks and recorded course materials, Julie and Gail have left thousands of parents feeling Confident, Capable and Calm. Between the two, they have two supportive husbands, four great children (who continue to test their mothers), one dog, and thousands of supportive clients who are now confident, capable and calm.
www.cbc.ca/albertaatnoon/columnists/parentingpower/
www.parentingpower.ca
julie@parentingpower.ca
Julie Freedman Smith's Parenting Power Audio... Accepting Your Imperfections in Business and Life
Alice Wheaton
Alice Wheaton's experience in working with thousands of individuals throughout North America revealed that confidence has little to do with motivation and success; confidence is how we feel just before we face the situation! In fact, the most successful people are those who are able to feel and manage their fears, doubts, and insecurities. They have a skill, of which most people are unaware, that leads to their success and happiness.
Her three book titles are:
* Big Game Hunters and Closers
* SAY NO to ME: The True Power of UpSide-Down Selling
* Forgive and Forget: A Path to Peace of Mind;
Watch for her upcoming books:
* Fear Less & Live More: Out-Fox Your Fears
* Cold Calling Strategies for Chickens, Cowards, and the Faint-of-Heart
Alice combines her constant quest for education with her street smarts gained from 25 years of being an over-the-top performer in any industry she has entered. After graduating with a degree in Nursing, she worked as an intensive care nurse for six years. She began her business career as the first woman on her team at Xerox Canada and within the first year, she earned the award "Salesperson of the Year."
She believes there are millions of dollars worth of great ideas and products not fully developed because of fear of rejection. Her information and systems helps individuals appear lucky!
One of her key areas of expertise is assisting companies improve their bottom line by helping sales people overcome the fear of cold calling!
Bruce Clinton… Fun and Profit in Your Business
Bruce G. Clinton is the founder of BusinessWise, LLC, an executive coaching and consulting firm, which specializes in helping entrepreneurial organizations solve the “people challenges” associated with growth and succession by installing timeless leadership processes to obtain and retain top producing talent at all levels of the organization.
He is a co-founder of Search, LLC a retained search firm which takes a unique organizational development approach to find key people. Bruce is an expert in organizational leadership, management and development, having spent over thirty years as a consultant in the field. He has run many seminars in management / leadership skill development. He is a noted author and speaker who appeared on numerous national convention programs including; the National Association of Personnel Services, the National Associations of Medical Equipment Suppliers and the National Association of Electrical Distributors.
Prior to founding BusinessWise, Bruce was president of Organizational Development Associates, Inc., co-founder of Entrepreneurial Resource Group, Inc., and the founder of Entrepreneurial Leadership Councils dedicated to the development of peers who share the desire to build strong organizations. Bruce’s clients have included companies in all sectors of business and industry, and many family-owned businesses, all over the United States.
His consulting clients have included the following: human resource companies, insurance service companies, real estate brokerage and development companies, durable medical equipment distributors, manufacturers, as well as, professional practices and non profit organizations.
Early Background: After three years as an Air Force Officer, Bruce joined his father’s real estate firm. Looking for challenges beyond sales, he joined forces with a residential contractor where he became co-owner and president of a residential real estate company on the eastern shore of CT. He quickly grew that organization to three offices plus a new home sales staff with four managers and 32 sales associates. This organization went from zero market position to sixteen per cent of the market (second in market penetration behind a company that had been established twenty years earlier). He became the president of a land development company and vice president of a residential construction company. He formed a Limited Partnership, where he functioned as general partner and developed the largest luxury subdivision in the history of the CT shoreline, Heatherwood, which exceeded all of its projections for developing ninety six lots. During this time period he sold his real estate company to one of his managers and began his practice of consulting to entrepreneurial organizations.
Bruce continued as an organizational development consultant throughout his career always maintaining a level of client relationships. In the early 1980s, (1983-86) he joined a national financial planning firm, Waddell & Reed where he was first in life insurance sales and 59th in overall productivity of over 2000 registered representatives. He rejoined consulting full time in 1986. In 1993-95 he served as Executive Vice President of a telecommunications company where he was asked by the board to assume leadership and to recruit a successor to the president who was retiring due to illness. This was a successful intervention which resulted in a new president and a diversifying the client base from a key client, a large CT insurance company, which represented over 80% of its total sales and desired to change providers. He was responsible for leading the team to retain that key client relationship while the client base was to be expanded. The relationship was retained and the client base was diversified while achieving a gain in sales. With his job completed, even with some offers to remain, he returned to consulting and executive coaching. Once again demonstrating his independence and pursuit of his passion of enriching the lives of individuals and organizations by helping them to discover, develop and maximize their human assets.
Bruce is a graduate of Hobart College with a dual major of Economics and Psychology. He has completed his MBA program at the University of New Haven, recipient of RCC and CBC (Registered Corporate Coach and Certified Business Coach) designations, served as a commissioned Air Force Officer, has been an incorporator of a bank and past President of the Madison Country Club. Bruce has served on the boards of various business and civic organizations. He is a past long term board member of The Cove, a non profit organization that helps children and their families through the loss of a loved one. He and his wife (of 47 years), Susan, have five children and five grandsons.
Bruce Clinton Audio... Fun and Profit in Family Run Businesses
Linda Edgecombe
Linda Edgecombe, BPE. Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and Speaker Hall of Fame Inductee (HoF), Humorist, "Life Perspective Specialist"
Linda Edgecombe, CSP and HoF, is an internationally renowned, award-winning humorous speaker, trainer and consultant. She is a best-selling author who energizes every room as she leads people to loosen up, lighten the load and laugh. Her audiences are motivated and shown how they can shift their perspectives on life, work and themselves. Change has never been this painless!
As a professional, with a degree in Physical Education, Linda brings 20 years of Recreation, Employee Wellness, Lifestyle and Corporate Consulting experience to her programs and her clients. She was a consultant for PARTICIPACTION promoting healthy living to Canadians and is known for being one of the country's most popular speakers. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal as an expert in "Shifting Perspectives".
Inside all the laughter, Linda's audiences are inspired to find the meaning in what they do and let go of what's not working. Her message is as welcomed as a deep belly laugh and as profound as an honest look in the mirror.
Linda's message is as welcome as a good belly laugh and as profound as an honest look in the mirror.
Get ready to BE Energized!
Please welcome from Kelowna, B.C........Linda Edgecombe.
Michele PW
Considered one of the hottest direct response copywriters and marketing consultants in the industry today, Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) Your $Ka-Ching!$ Marketing Strategist, has a reputation for crafting copy and creating online and offline marketing campaigns that get results.
Michele started writing professionally in 1992, working at agencies and on staff as a marketing/communication/writing specialist. She started Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC in 1998 and has never looked back.
Going into business for herself was the best thing she ever did. She discovered a passion for combining her creativity with her writing ability to solve marketing problems for her clients. She's also developed a specialty for online marketing campaigns: from using Web 2.0 traffic strategies to bring a flood of hungry visitors to Web sites, to turning those visitors into actual paying customers.
Now a national speaker and author, her client list reads like a "who's who" of Internet Marketing. She regularly works with national and internationally known consultants, speakers, authors and companies.
Michele has completed two novels, is a contributing author to the Entrepreneur Press Start Up Guide to Information Marketing and has created several home study courses. She holds a double major in English and Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently she lives in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona with her husband Paul and her three border collies, Nick, Maddie and Roxie.