Brand Video Interview – Robyn Hatcher, SpeakEtc | Branding YOU Better!

Brand Video Interview – Robyn Hatcher, SpeakEtc

By Susan October 10, 2011 Blog, Brand-Interviews No Comments

Brand Video Interview – Robyn Hatcher, SpeakEtc

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
SpeakEtc has been in business 10-15 years. Robyn’s areas of expertise are communication, public speaking, presentation coaching and training. Robyn is on a mission to elevate the way people conduct their face-to-face communication. People are not using the gifts they have to truly be able to create effective and engaging communication.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
Robyn donates clothing and furniture to the Angel Thrift shop in her neighborhood to help the homeless. She also donates her time and is a member of the Step Up Women’s Network, whose mission is to help women and teenage girls and she also belongs to the community board of her neighborhood.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel? How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
Robyn has a creative background including being a writer and actor. When she started the design and development of her identity she wanted the name to convey both a boldness (Speak) and a gentleness (Etc). The combination of the “speaking” part being a bold delivery and the “Etc” part showing an ease to that delivery.

Robyn started with her business cards and her web site came later. Through networking, she met an actor, Mark Hamm from Atlanta, who also created web sites. She wanted to use the color blue because it’s considered a trustworthy color. Notice that many banks’ websites use blue.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media? How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
Robyn says that social media came many years later after the launch of her website. She’s been on LinkedIn about 3 years, Facebook about 1 1/2 years and Twitter about 1 year. Lately she spends more time on Twitter and likes it best. Robyn took a workshop with Payson Cooper and now truly knows what’s interesting to write, to get more people engaged in conversation. With Facebook, Robyn feels it’s a bit overwhelming and says, “I feel like I’m late to the party.” She has always liked LinkedIn and agrees she doesn’t spend enough time there and will in the future.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
Robyn says she educated herself through different classes in person and online, such as a webinar with Payson Cooper and Lindsay Vastola. She has also attended workshops given by Constant Contact. She went to Score seminars, group meetings and has attended and spoken at a lot of conferences.

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
Robyn placed an ad in an up and coming magazine called “Genesis.”

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
Robyn thought she’d try an ad on LinkedIn after receiving a credit for $100 of advertising. Unfortunately she forgot to turn the ad off and wasn’t monitoring it’s success. She hadn’t realized how effective it would be. All of a sudden she received a huge bill and LinkedIn apologized for not saying anything, but of course the bill was what it was. Since her business is a service based company ads aren’t necessarily the best way to gain clients. It does however create some awareness and have the potential of adding new email subscribers.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor? Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Some of the print marketing Robyn has printed are business cards, 3 x 5 coupon cards and a print newsletter, which she feels is a great leave behind. She creates print marketing for her speaking engagements and hasn’t yet pursued “green” printing but will definitely look to using it next time. Robyn uses mostly online printing.

Tell us about your Audio and Video products.
Two years ago Robyn created a vocal workout CD. Voice is the second most important part of a presentation behind the visual and third is the content. The CD contains vocal and breathing exercises, intonation drills and articulation drills. A good friend and graphic designer at Random House helped her create the packaging of the CD and the second edition is coming out with a new and fabulous cover.

Do you speak and conferences and conduct online teleclasses?
Robyn has been a speaker at two Spark & Hustle conferences and many financial advisor conferences including Axa Equitable. She will be a keynote speaker at an Axa Equitable conference later this month and others. She also does one on ones with smaller companies. Robyn had read a blog post about “Bad presentations” and wants to put an end to bad presentations and wants to nip this in the bud. She also works with MBA students at Baruch and FIT, helping them with their team meetings and to put an end to bad presentations. She’s planning to create more teleclasses and webinars so she reach a wider audience online.

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon and tell us about your upcoming book.
Robyn is writing a book which will integrate her teachings about communicating effectively from the inside out. It will showcase (actor) character types for individuals to let the star from within shine. The working title is “Star Power” and is scheduled to be published in about 9 months (2012).