Speaker:

JoAnne Stone-Geier, marketing and branding expert, author and speaker

Have you ever thought you had a great idea for a product or service – but didn’t know how to determine whether it was viable or how to introduce it?

Drawing from her new book, “Launch It! How to Turn Good Ideas into Great Products that Sell,” JoAnne Stone-Geier will provide you with a step-by-step guide to turn your great idea into a viable product.  Leading business magazines from Forbes to Entrepreneur have praised “Launch It!” that JoAnne wrote with Molly Miller-Davidson and Michael B. Levinson.

JoAnne will discuss how to test whether your product is viable and, if so, how product trends should influence your product’s design and marketing.  She will describe the people you should get to know, how to build your team and how to showcase your product on-line.  Then, she will show you – when you are ready to launch your product – how to make the media work for you and how to find marketing opportunities and have an impact at trade shows.

JoAnne Stone-Geier is well known as a speaker and consultant in the U.S. and Europe, giving some 30-40 speeches annually to leading companies and at major trade shows.  She has advised clients as diverse as Nestle, the Sears Tower and the Toledo Zoo.  JoAnne developed the Corporate Gift Division for Neiman Marcus and then Carson Pirie Scott, where product development was the cornerstone for their success.  She has written many magazine articles, served as editor of a leading gourmet food publication, and now has a new column, Let’s Do Launch! in Today’s Chicago Woman magazine.