Santa Barbara Marketing Author Book Signing and Lecture on MarkEDing™ – Marketing + Education

Lorrie Thomas Ross, Santa Barbara-based marketing expert, educator, author of the McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course to Online Marketing and CEO of marketing agency Web Marketing Therapy, Inc., will be speaking on August 14th at Granada Books about “MarkEDing™: Why Educating Customers is the Future of Marketing” and signing books. Thomas Ross’ presentation at Granada Books in Santa Barbara, California starts at 6:30pm PST and is about a concept she created called MarkEDing™, which is the amalgamation of the terms marketing and education. This approach helps focus marketing in an ethical way and can benefit professional business relations with current and potential customers.

Lorrie Thomas Ross is a recognized web marketing expert and a sought-after marketing speaker, who has been interviewed in publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur, SUCCESS Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Her book, The 36 Hour Course to Online Marketing published by McGraw-Hill has been out since December of 2010. It is used widely by other educators in educational settings all over the country, as well as with the Santa Barbara community.

Santa Barbara educators who refer students to The 36 Hour Course to Online Marketing book include Nicki Gauthier, COO of Web Marketing Therapy, Inc. who teaches The Art and Science of Web Analytics at UCSB Extension, Carina Michelle Powers of Santa Barbara City College who teaches E-Commerce and Online and Mobile Marketing, Amber Wallace of Dowitcher Designs who teaches Web Marketing Applications at UCSB Extension and Lee Ann Ben-Kinney of Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) who teaches the Virtual Enterprise and Computer Business Applications class.

“I’ve used Lorrie’s online marketing book in my entrepreneurship class for the past 2 years,” says Lee-Ann Ben Kinney. “It’s engaging and an effective use of my class time. The online marketing book is a must for any serious business person. I have been marketing Dons Net Café, a student-run business at SBHS that offers customized products, free tax service, gourmet coffee, and healthy snacks for years. Her book is our one-stop map, to help guide our online marketing strategy.”

From educating readers with essential information in search engine optimization to creating social media content, her book is filled with the latest tips and tools to help businesses execute healthy marketing strategies. This August, attendees will be able to get their copy signed by Thomas Ross herself, as well as learn about the future of marketing.

“When I wrote my book, my goal was to get my decade-plus of hands-on online marketing experience into a simple, 12-chapter book to help people navigate the wild, wild web.” Says Thomas Ross. “What I was not expecting was my work mashed up as both a marketer and educator (MarkEDing™) was a solution to help steer an ethical, effective use of marketing. Pushy marketing tactics don’t work in today’s web-centric world. Instead, organizations need to focus in maximizing relationships by providing educational knowledge – marketing by educating. I am looking forward to presenting at Granada Books this August, as well as sharing imperative marketing knowledge which will benefit local Santa Barbara businesses.”

The upcoming book signing and speaking event, titled “MarkEDing®: Why Educating Customers is the Future of Marketing” will be held on August 14th, 2013 in Granada Books in Santa Barbara, CA at 6:30pm. The event is free to everyone.

About Lorrie Thomas Ross:

Lorrie Thomas Ross, M.A. is an author, speaker, educator and CEO of Web Marketing Therapy, a marketing agency and training company that diagnoses, prescribes and guides healthy marketing solutions. Her marketing expertise empowers organizations to create scalable web solutions that brand, build and boost business. She teaches workshops on-site at corporations and also through UC Berkeley Extension. Ms. Thomas was on the founding team at ValueClick Media. She speaks nationally on a number of marketing-related topics and writes for several online publications. Her book The 36 Hour Course to Online Marketing for McGraw-Hill is a must read. Her lynda.com courses are top-viewed business courses in their video training library. She has been featured in the media as a web marketing expert in publications including INC Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, SUCCESS Magazine, the Associated Press, eCommerce Times, Entrepreneur, DM News and Tech News World. www.webmarketingtherapy.com and www.lorriethomas.com