Michele Miller Interview – Author and Marketing Wonder Woman of Wonder Branding

Hi Everyone,

Today I am pleased to introduce you to an amazing woman in marketing – Michele Miller.

Michelle is a partner in the Wizard of Ads marketing firm where she  specializes in  marketing to women and understanding the heart of a female customer.   With a client roster that includes such companies as Best Buy and Timberland, Michele is an excellent example of a successful Female Entrepreneur in Marketing.

Michele is also the author of The Soccer Mom Myth and The Natural Advantages of Women, the audio book hailed for its concepts, principles, and new scientific information on how the female brain is hardwired for personal greatness. Her blog on marketing to women has been featured in Seth Godin’s book, Bull Market.

If you want to learn more about Michele, be sure to check out her blog, Wonder Branding, and follow her on Twitter.

To start off, Michele, could you please describe what you do and how you earn your living?

Well, I have to say that I have a great life.  I’m a partner in the Wizard of Ads marketing firm, based in Austin, Texas.  I have the luxury of having such an esteemed partner as best-selling author Roy H. Williams (of the “Wizard of Ads” business book trilogy), while essentially running my own business.  I have a roster of clients across North America.  I also do a bit of writing and blogging.

Michele giving one of her great presentations.

You also write for Inc.com as well as consulting, teaching, and presenting.  Can you tell us how you tie all these in together and how you prioritize your time with so much on your plate?

Time management and life balance has to be one of the hardest things to achieve on the planet.  I work very hard at staying organized, recognizing priorities, and setting my work schedule up at least one week in advance.  My favorite book for learning about time management is an oldie but goodie: “First Things First,” by Stephen Covey.  My biggest challenge has been to get better at saying, “no” to potential projects and clients.  My nature is such that I want to help everyone but when I do, my own work suffers greatly.

You are the author of two celebrated books, including the audio book “The Natural Advantages of Women” and “The Soccer Mom Myth” with Holly Buchanan.  What inspired you to author these books on marketing to women?

It’s funny how things evolve.  When I wrote The Natural Advantages of Women back in 2003, it started as an investigation of traits like intuition that seemed to be more evident in women than in men.  I wanted to talk about how important it is for young women especially to not ignore that trait and to use it to their advantage in the business world.  As I started doing my research, I came across a number of new studies on gender difference in the brain, and it started the beagle in my brain down some wildly fascinating paths.

Once the audiobook was published, I began to see the implications of gender difference in the worlds of marketing and advertising.  Many experts were talking about how important the female customer was, but couldn’t get beyond traditional ways of thinking or bust through stereotypes.  That’s the big reason for the failure of so many marketing to women campaigns today.  Holly and I see eye-to-eye on so many things, and it was a natural choice to write The Soccer Mom Mythwith her, especially since she’s a freakin’ genius when it comes to marketing to women online.

Why do you think the female factor is so important in today’s economy and business world?

Two reasons come to mind.  First, women hold massive purchasing power; they either directly spend or influence more than 80 cents of every dollar in this country.  If that alone doesn’t convince you of their importance, I don’t know what does!  Second, historical patterns from hundreds of years show that our society is just beginning a seismic shift in the direction of “female” thinking, speaking, and processing.  It’s a time of big-picture thinking and a great need for connectedness.  I guess you could say the Internet, and its ability to connect women who may never meet each other in person in their lifetimes, is another very important reason for “female factor” dominance today.


I’ve heard you say that it is important for women to feel they are part of a tribe.  Can you expound on that a bit and tell us how understanding this concept can help other female entrepreneurs in their business pursuits?

Numerous studies show that the female brain (which has four times the number of connections into the right hemisphere than the male brain) is expressly wired for feeling, bonding, and connecting.  And it goes beyond the stereotypical (again!) thinking of the word.  It’s not only “connected” in terms of touchy-feely-kum-ba-yah, but also in terms of intelligence, thought processing, and buying modes.  “Connected” is the underlying foundation for the way every female brain works.  Where men have the gift of being able to focus on one thing at a time and see where it fits into a linear set of clues, women process the same clues as though they were a big puzzle – how does this piece fit in, and where, so that it gives me a “big picture?”  Understanding the female thought process and how connectedness runs through every fiber of her being helps you to understand how to reach her as a consumer and business partner.

Many successful entrepreneurs believe it is important to have a mentor as they grow their business or blog.  Would you agree?  Have you had a mentor and if so, how has that helped you?

I’ve thought about this quite often and as I look back, I can honestly say that my most important mentors were men.  They were encouraging but still weren’t afraid to give it to me straight (as in constructive criticism) if I needed it.  They gave me the freedom to not only succeed but fail without fear, and were never afraid to tell me everything they knew about business.  I can’t tell you the number of women who were god-awful in the workplace and didn’t want to share anything.

What would you say is the single biggest reason for your success? If you could step back in time to when you were just starting out, what advice would you give yourself knowing what you know now?

Focus, focus, focus.  As I said earlier, it’s a challenge for me to say “no” to folks, ideas, and projects. But it is getting easier, the older I get.   If you have a big idea about something, break it down into the tiniest parts possible and then each and every day, DO ONE THING.  It might just be re-reading a blog post you’ve drafted, or making one phone call.  But do something.  Otherwise you’ll get overwhelmed and the years will fly by.

Michele with her pup!

Thank you very much for the interview, Michele!  Can you share with us any future plans or lifetime goals (personal or business) that we can look forward to from you?

It was my great pleasure, Coree.  At the moment, I’m working very hard on the latest version of WonderBranding.com, trying to create as much content as possible for people to use in their marketing campaigns (no matter the size of their businesses).  And I’m spending more and more time on the road giving keynotes, presentations, and teaching workshops to groups of folks who really want to “peel the layers” off traditional marketing to women in order to get at the heart of what they really need to do.  I know there’s another book in me and that will come sooner than later; but a girl does need her beauty sleep. 

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Tagged as:  Marketing · Michele Miller · Top Females · women · Women In Marketing