Career details: Growzone, Inc.

Growzone was a start-up, internet ASP for the lawn and garden industry.  Growzone's applications provided both B2B and B2C solutions for wholesale growers, manufacturers, and suppliers, as well as the small to large independent lawn and garden centers.     

Director of marketing — Miki Tolle spearheaded the design, development, management, and execution of the company's strategic and tactical-marketing activities. She researched, wrote, and executed the company's marketing plan while providing supervision over two employees.

Miki Tolle played an integral role in the company's two initial new product launches (B2B and B2C), including the direction of press releases and subsequent product releases and versions. As a key member of the team, she helped assess and design all three of the company's web-site releases as well.

Miki Tolle analyzed prospects, customers, and market drivers and trends to make recommendations regarding selling, advertising, promotion, and product strategies. She worked with lawyers on trademarks, registrations, licensing, and logos. She assessed, wrote, and delivered all documentation, reports, analysis, and cost accounting for marketing projects and events. It was her responsibility to also evaluate and effectively communicate customer- and product-value propositions in collateral, advertising, and online. She supervised the planning and implementation for the public relations activities, including branding and imaging of the company and its products and services. 

Miki Tolle designed, developed, and deployed the company's first ezine to its customers, prospects, and industry partners and participants.   

With a key lead role in the planning and production of the sales tools and collateral materials she identified and hired and worked closely with third-party resources such as event-marketing companies and advertising and public relations agencies; playing a significant role in selecting strategic partners. 

Miki Tolle supervised the process to develop a tradeshow schedule, with themes, signage, direct mail, collateral materials, and advertising and public relations and attended and participated in many of the tradeshows that she directed.

Miki Tolle worked with product development and technical teams to research selling and marketing strategies and worked with technical teams to develop CD-ROM and online product demos and promotions. She performed analysis on collected data in order to synthesize that information to provide useful marketing solutions, conclusions and recommendations. She also tracked and measured the effectiveness of the marketing activities. Managed the leads management process and made recommendations for improvements and enhancements.