ABOUT
A Welcome from Traci
These days, when you ask someone what they do, it is often separated by lots of dashes. I suppose I am no exception…mine would go a little something like this:
Publicity Diva. Writer. Blogger. Voracious Reader. Caffeine Connoisseur. Gadget Geek. Marketing Maven. Nerd. Cardigan Collector. Eclectic Music Fan. Office Supply Junkie. Crazy Sock Fashionista. Hitchcock Fan.
My husband would tell you that I am a cross between Lucille Ball and Martha Stewart.
From a young age, an entrepreneurial fire burned bright in me. Whether that entailed hawking Girl Scout® Cookies or magazine subscriptions to fund after-school activities, or selling personalized Shrinky Dinks® to my classmates to supplement my meager allowance — I was always honing my marketing and sales skills.
I was inexplicably drawn to creative endeavors, but they always wound up centered around the sales process. Sure, I had Barbie® dolls – but mine weren’t interested in going to the beach with Skipper® – they were pitching commercial taglines and products to unwitting GI Joe® figures.
It was clear that marketing of one form or another was my destiny.
My interest in market research grew out of a natural curiosity for what drove folks to buy. Early on, I began to track my results — and fine tune my approach to suit the audience. I discovered that filling up our red wagon with my wares, and enlisting the help of my baby sister often resulted in better sales.
Cute kid = bigger sales. Ka-ching!
I memorized and quoted commercial jingles. I sketched constantly. I went through reams of paper, and hundreds of crayons and markers. When all else failed, I drew on the walls. I drove my folks nuts.
All of those early experiences paid off — and my love for the sales and creative process has never waned.
I spent much of my early career working for large firms – first in marketing research, then in sales and marketing for several leading industrial manufacturers. All the while, the dream of small business ownership was always there. At the turn of the new century, the opportunity presented itself – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Soon afterward, I began my freelance business, The Creative Concept — catering to the unique copywriting, promotional and marketing needs of small businesses. In 2005, my work with small business owners led me to launch a small business portal site, which evolved into Entrepreneur & Self-Employed Business Journal. My work on the ESB site continued to fuel my passion for writing — resulting in several ebooks, seminars, and courses, and dozens of small business articles in syndication.
Yes, I readily admit my caffeine addiction, although I am trying to get that under control these days. In days past, you’d likely find a conga line of empty soda cans on my desk — which made it easy to gauge my creativity on any given day.
My dreams have been realized by helping others achieve theirs. I am fortunate to be able to work with some of our nation’s brightest and most ambitious small business owners and leaders. The enthusiasm that they have is contagious – I find myself filled with the giddy elation of those bygone Barbie® doll days.
Testimonials:
“The first time I learned of Traci was visiting several of her many websites. I was blown away with how her pages grabbed and held my attention. Design is only one of her many talents, as I discovered. She is also an Internet-savvy, first-class marketer, magazine publisher, trade association founder and much more. We’ve coordinated projects together and I am very pleased with her professional attention to details and deadlines. I highly recommend her for your next project!” – James Dillehay, co-author/publisher Guerrilla Multilevel Marketing www.gmmlm.com
Affiliate Marketing Disclosure:
The Creative Concept values our relationship with our readers, and we strive to be your most trusted source for valuable marketing and promotional content, as well as a suite of business services. In an effort to provide full disclosure, we’ve provided this brief overview of our policies regarding affiliate marketing.
We do occasionally make recommendations and post links for which we may receive affiliate compensation — either as a commission for each sale, or some other form of compensation, such as review copies of books, information products, and the like.
These recommendations are made only for those products and services which we have personally used, and attest to their merit to our readers; however, advertisers do not influence the editorial content of this website. We are routinely sent books, ebooks, information products, audios and videos for review on this website. If selected for review, we will post reviews only for those products we feel demonstrate a significant value to our readers.
Most of the links contained within the pages of this website offer no affiliate compensation at all, but are offered for their merit to our readers.
In any business venture, there are inherent risks, and there is a chance for financial loss. Results listed within the pages of this website often illustrate exceptional and atypical results — in other words, they should not be accepted as normal or average results.
Testimonials that are noted within the pages of this website are from users of our products or services, and are offered willingly and without compensation of any kind.
Any affiliate commissions earned help defray the ongoing costs associated with keeping me caffeinated — a fact that my husband is most appreciative of.
