Branding

Tara is the founder of Marketing Artfully, a 12-year-old company that creates cutting-edge marketing strategies for small businesses. Tara’s primary responsibilities are speaking with small business owners, conducting workshop trainings, and consulting with clients. With a B.A. in Psychology and 10+ years of “in-the-trenches” marketing experience, Tara’s background prepared her for helping small business owners grow their market share and profitability with “real life” marketing ideas and lead-generating tips.

Alan Siege, CEO/Owner of Small Business Management Consulting, which focuses on small firms. SBMC helps companies increase profits by improving the way they tell their business story. He has been featured in NY Newsday, CrainsNewYork, American Express OPEN, Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, and Good Housekeeping. He is an instructor for the NYC Department of Small Business Services Entrepreneur Boot Camp, a Kaufman Foundation Certified Facilitator for its FastTrac programs offered by NYC, as well as an adjunct Professor at the Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University.

As CEO of MyCorporation Business Services, Inc., Deborah Sweeney advocates to protect personal and business assets for all consumers. With her extensive experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah can provide insightful commentary on the benefits, barriers, and who should consider incorporation and trademark registration. She also has extensive experience in the start-up and entrepreneurial sector as she has been involved in the formation of hundreds of thousands of MyCorporation’s customers.

Deborah joined MyCorporation in 2003 after serving as outside general counsel for 5 years. She received her Juris Doctor and Masters in Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University and is a member of the American Bar Association. She also serves on the Board of Regents at California Lutheran University.

Deborah has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in the area of corporate and intellectual property law. Because of her extensive knowledge, Sweeney has long served as a speaker and panelist on legal issues affecting new-to-the-world and growing businesses.

Ms. Sweeney is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with some of the top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites. Her account with Forbes has featured articles with upward to 25,000 views. She also regularly contributes to American Express, She Takes on the World, YFS Magazine, Empower Me! Magazine, and Business Insider, among others.

Beth Goldstein, president of Marketing Edge Consulting Group and adjunct professor, Boston University School of Management.

Author, consultant, trainer, and founder of Marketing Edge Consulting Group, Beth Goldstein has empowered hundreds of entrepreneurs to successfully grow their companies. She helps companies understand how their customers think, what they value, and what influences their purchasing decisions, and then uses this knowledge to create targeted business-development programs that drive revenue and fundamental growth while increasing profitability and customer loyalty.

Her first book, The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit (McGraw-Hill) is used in 30+ cities around the U.S. to teach business owners the critical skills they need to accelerate growth. In addition to running her consulting practice, Beth conducts small-business growth workshops around the U.S. and abroad, teaches entrepreneurial marketing at the Boston University School of Management where she is the faculty director for the school's Online Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship Program (recognized by Fortune Small Business Magazine/CNN Money as one of the top 5 e-learning entrepreneurship programs in the US).

Peter Shankman, vice president and small business evangelist for Vocus

PR Week Magazine has described Peter Shankman as “redefining the art of networking”, and Investor’s Business Daily has called him “crazy, but effective”.

Shankman is a spectacular example of what happens when you merge the power of pure creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a dose of adventure, and make it work to your advantage.

An author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized for his radically new ways of thinking about social media, PR, marketing, advertising, and customer service.

Peter is best known for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO) which in less than a year became the defacto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline, offering more than 200,000 sources around the world. HARO is currently the largest free source repository in the world and sends out more than 1,500 queries from worldwide media each week. In June 2010, less than two years after Peter started HARO in his apartment, it was acquired by Vocus, Inc.

International speaker Shel Horowitz's eighth book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet (co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson, published in 2010 by Wiley) was on Amazon's environmental bestseller list for 18 months. The book documents how businesses can be green, ethical AND profitable. Using examples from Fortune 100 companies to solo-preneurs, the book lays out how ethics and green principles are not just about doing the right thing but also about profitability. Surprising principles are demonstrated that show why most businesses shouldn't even worry about market share. The book shows business owners how to form powerful partnerships, even with competitors; how to get your green message out without green-washing; and how to become a much deeper shade of green. Shel also writes the internationally syndicated monthly column, Green And Profitable.

Vanessa Wakeman is the driving force behind The Wakeman Agency. Based in New York, its clients span the globe. It is an award-winning agency that produces innovative, high-impact special events and PR campaigns for a diverse roster of organizations committed to social change.

Vanessa launched The Wakeman Agency in 2003 to provide public relations and event management. She has been quoted by PR Week, The New York Daily News, ABC Eyewitness News, Selling Power, Smart Money magazine, Westchester magazine, New York News Day, Philanthropy Journal magazine, and a host of other outlets.

Alan Siege, CEO/Owner of Small Business Management Consulting, which focuses on small firms. SBMC helps companies increase profits by improving the way they tell their business story. He has been featured in NY Newsday, CrainsNewYork, American Express OPEN, Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, and Good Housekeeping. He is an instructor for the NYC Department of Small Business Services Entrepreneur Boot Camp, a Kaufman Foundation Certified Facilitator for its FastTrac programs offered by NYC, as well as an adjunct Professor at the Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University.

Sandra Holtzman, president and founder of Holtzman Communications, is an award-winning creative director and marketing strategist. She has extensive expertise in marketing life sciences, as well as business-to-business and consumer marketing including the launch of the Acura car.
Sandra’s solid strategies and creative thinking have proved successful for Fortune 500 companies as well as startup organizations. She specializes in working with start-ups, solopreneurs, and mature businesses in all sectors on marketing and customer-focused market research.

Sandra is the Chair of the New York Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society, facilitates FastTrac New Ventures, and teaches Licensing at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Farra has more than 15 years of experience in communications and fundraising for nonprofit organizations. She focuses on helping nonprofits use the internet (social media, websites, email, etc.) to increase visibility and connect with donors, activists, and other stakeholders.

Farra co-chairs the Communications Committee for the New York City Anti-Violence Project and is a part-time faculty member at Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy, where she teaches a class about Online Engagement for Nonprofits. She also holds an M.S. degree in nonprofit management from The New School.

Farra tweets about nonprofit fundraising and communications via @farra.