People often ask me how I ended up running Boot Camp Digital.  You can find my official bio below, but I wanted to take a moment to share the story of how I ended up here.

I started my career at Procter and Gamble (P&G) Canada (yes, I am Canadian, don’t hold it against me) after graduating with honors from Wilfrid Laurier University (also in Canada).  After 3 years P&G convinced me to move to Cincinnati where I worked on different businesses including Laundry Detergent, Coffee and Pur Water.

While I was still at P&G I started working part-time for an internet start-up company.  After juggling 2 jobs for a year working 100 hours I week the start-up got funded and I left P&G to become the VP of Marketing at Photrade.

When I started working at the start-up I had a HUGE problem.  I had to do more with less – I needed to get results and I had almost no budget.  I also had to compete against companies that had millions of dollars to spend.  Anyone else have this problem?  Need to do more with less?  Have to compete against bigger guys?

I had to do more with less – I needed to get results with almost no budget.  That is when I discovered social media marketing.

That is when I discovered social media marketing.  We were one of the first companies to use Twitter (we joined in August of 2007) and we used it to connect with new customers and build loyalty with existing users.  We also ran two very successful blogs that helped us get new customers and earn the trust of our audience.  We did a ton of social media outreach and community building.  As we learned I made a TON of mistakes along the way.  I can’t tell you about the emails that I got when I made mistakes and offended people (not on purpose).  We dealt with everything – from people who hated us to people who loved us!

The best way to learn isn’t from experience.  The best way to learn is from somebody else’s experience.

During our first 4 months we were able to acquire 40,000 users using social media and almost no spending.  Our biggest competitor spent $2 million, had been out for a year longer than us and had the same number of users.  Those are the results of social media marketing.

The start-up got sold in 2008 and I didn’t know what I wanted to do next, so I took some time off (which I needed after working 100 hours a week!).  People started asking me about how they could get the same results that I did using social media.  I started helping some small businesses and before I even had a real business I was contacted by a brand manager at P&G.  He had been reading my blog and following me on Twitter, and they were interested in using social media for their brand.  Since I had previously worked there, they asked me if they could hire me.

Before I knew it we were working with businesses of all sizes helping them see success with social media marketing.  That is how I started my business.  Now I have written a book, am managing director of a social media institute, am writing a text book, am speaking all over the world and working with many different companies of all sizes.  I really do love what I do every day (if you talk to me you can see my passion) and I love helping others discover how to harness the power of social media.

My Official Bio

Krista Neher is a leading authority, trainer, educator, author and international speaker on Internet marketing and social media, and is currently the CEO of Boot Camp Digital, a leading provider of social media marketing training and consulting solutions. Krista is a social media pioneer; creating one of the first successful corporate Twitter strategies and corporate blogs – long before “social media” was even a recognized term. Krista is also the author of “Social Media Field Guide: Discover the Strategies, Tactics and Tools for Successful Social Media Marketing” and is currently working on the first textbook on social media marketing. In addition, Krista is currently the managing director of the Institute for Social Media at Cincinnati State and has trained thousands of people in social media marketing.

Krista has deep roots in marketing, having worked at Procter and Gamble for almost six years in a career spanning sales, finance and marketing. During her career at P&G, Krista worked on the biggest brands (Tide, Folgers) and on some of the most successful launches in the history of the company. She was consistently rated as a top performer. Krista then went on to become vice president of marketing for the Internet startup Photrade.com. While at Photrade, Krista became deeply immersed in social media marketing and technologies. She was one of the first marketers to incorporate these emerging platforms into successful marketing strategies.

Upon leaving Photrade, Krista founded Boot Camp Digital, a company that provides training and strategic consulting solutions to companies of all sizes – from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses.  Through Boot Camp Digital, Krista worked with Procter & Gamble on its first social media marketing effort and helped build a model now replicated throughout the entire organization. Krista has also created training programs for a number of companies including a year-long digital marketing training program for Euro RSCG, the world’s largest advertising agency. Boot Camp Digital also provides social media solutions for small businesses, startups and provided social media support to ad:tech – the country’s largest digital marketing conference.

Krista is a sought-after public speaker for her engaging and entertaining keynotes and seminars. Krista is a regular speaker at a variety of industry conferences and presented at prestigious events including: Search Engine Strategies, The American Marketing Association, The Ad Club, Connected Marketing Week, Blog Her, Mobile X Conference, Social Media Club, The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Blog Indiana, Association Trade Shows, College Career Days, Women Entrepreneurs Inspire at Oklahoma State, and many more. In addition to speaking around the world, Krista is an avid blogger both at the Boot Camp Digital Blog and The Marketess. She has contributed articles to Adrants and Mobile Marketer. Krista is also an advisor to a number of companies including Girlfriendology.com and Phd-Connect.