Contact me if you need help telling your story, relating to nerds, or making a presentation with impact.
Not sure if you need my services? Then read the handy guide below or scroll down for more insights on my unique specialty.
1. If your software was created by developers who describe it as "containing a really cool button, line of code or loop," you need to hire this nerd.
2. If your product or service includes more than three 4-letter acronyms, you need to hire this nerd.
3. If your audience falls asleep before you finish your first slide, you need to hire this nerd.
4. If your idea of marketing your solution is to create a cool pamphlet that you place in a drawer, you need to hire this nerd.
5. If your topic includes an IRS code section in the title, you need to hire this nerd.
6. If your bio includes mention of the chess club, star wars conventions, or calculator timed trials, you need to hire this nerd.
7. If your target audience is accountants or software developers and you have ever been in a sales role, you need to hire this nerd.
8. If you think "Viral Marketing" is something you can contract when flying into Canada, you need to hire this nerd.
9. If your product solves any Tax-, Sarbanes-Oxley-, COBRA-, or XBRL-related problem, you need to hire this nerd.
10. If you have ever been told that you present like Al Gore (before he did that movie), you need to hire this nerd.
Geni Whitehouse, CPA.CITP, CSPM
Contact me by email Geni(AT)evenanerd.com
How I can help
If you are in business, then you have something to sell. People buy from other people, not companies. They want to trust you. They want to establish a connection and form a relationship with you. In order to help them establish that connection, you must tell your story in a way that reflects your authentic voice.
If you are selling through others, say a channel or influencer relationships, it is even more important that your voice is clearly articulated so that other people can describe you and your expertise clearly.
I can help you find your voice and then apply it to all of your communications.
Why Nerds?
Anyone who is immersed in their own unique area of focus might be considered a nerd. Think about it. When you have spent the last 10 years of your life studying the mating habits of the white-fronted parrot, it is hard for you to communicate with other people who haven’t been similarly immersed. But there might be some valuable information there that needs to be shared.
Being a nerd myself, I am drawn to others like me. Years of working in the technology and accounting industries have taught me that the best ideas are often trapped in the heads of people who aren’t skilled at communicating. The unfortunate result of these poor communication skills is that the product, service or idea they are espousing gets ignored. And often, so does the individual’s career.
The key to connecting with your audience is discovering where your world and theirs intersect. Once you do that you don't have a presentation anymore. You have a story.
The service I offer is the ability to make the connection between the technology (XBRL, for example) and the business need. And to see the angle that best helps a presenter relate to the content he is sharing. Once I identify the links, I can then build and tell a story that helps other people see them too (Digital Bridges presentation on XBRL.)
So Why Me?
I was VP of Product Management for Sage Software and a Director of Product Marketing for Navision Software (prior to its acquisition by Microsoft.) In these roles, I learned how to turn features into benefits and technical support people into marketers. I learned how to tell business people stories about solutions that solved real business problems. I found ways to connect peaches and marshmallows to software. (You think I'm kidding.) And I discovered how much fun it could be to help other people find their voice.
Types of Services Available
¨ Strategy. I can provide assistance in devising the best approach to reach a given audience.
¨ Execution. Once the strategies are in place, I can then create presentations for deployment by your teams, or I can deliver presentations on your behalf. I will also work with your marketing team on content for campaigns that drive attendance to your events.
¨ Evangelism. As a regular presenter at US accounting shows, I can function as your product evangelist – positioning your product in presentations on relevant topics. Due to the type of commitment involved in being a product “spokesperson” I can only accept two of these engagements per year. These engagements also require a site visit and meetings with your management team.
¨ Content Development. I have clients who have fulfillment pieces, with no marketing campaign in place to get them distributed. I have clients with campaigns in place, but no fulfillment pieces to describe their offering. I assist both parties with content that can be applied in both cases.