As marketing professionals, we often dedicate hours of our lives to scrolling, sifting, searching, and scrolling again. To what end? Sadly, we’re probably trying to find correct information online about the things we care about. But with Google Alerts, it doesn’t need to be this way.

Defining moments shape our lives and, in the case of Amber Winn, come in the form of books. Although it may be happenstance that she found The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath, she’s grateful that a colleague suggested it for the SMPS Emerging Professionals Group (EPG) book club.

Are you afraid to emerge from your winter hibernation unable to contact new prospects? Don’t be afraid. Get ready to feel confident when preparing to contact new prospects!

“The research that this book is based on is so applicable to both marketing and technical staff for professional services firms,” explains Keri Hammond, FSMPS, CPSM, “It is specifically written for individuals at professional service firms that want to become a rainmaker.”

Time management is critical for the success in any organization. Unfortunately, we humans are not always great about managing time (ahem). For a successful project, managers need to juggle people, deadlines, tasks and requests – all while putting out multitudes of fires along the way. Timeneye is a powerful, user-friendly tool that helps with all the juggling.

Julee Attig, CPSM is a marketer in love with her craft. Not only does she find joy in her work, she loves sharing it in the form of a CPSM study group using Markendium material as a guide.

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie

Principal Keri Hammond, FSMPS, CPSM, applies this quote to the fear professionals have about the most crucial industry task, market research.

Imagine a software that combines the power of Excel with the convenience and cloud-functionality of Google Sheets. On top of that, this tool effortlessly links data together, making it an indispensable database. That’s Airtable.

Two truths and a lie about Principal Stephanie Craft. She was named after a gorilla, she recently earned her MBA, and she’s an in-depth strategic marketing specialist.

The lie is pretty easy to figure out. “My dad concocted this huge story when I was a kid about how I was named after a gorilla from the San Diego Zoo.” Stephanie smiles recounting how she didn’t discover the ruse until many years later. “My mom finally told me when I was in college. Now it’s our family joke.”