About Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba, their research and their careers

About Ben McConnell

Ben McConnell is an author, consultant and principal of management consulting firm Ant's Eye View.

Ben is the co-author of two books on customer loyalty: "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message," (2007) which documents the emerging world of social media and how brands should begin to embrace a participatory culture. Besides being widely used at companies as an introduction to social media, "Citizen Marketers" has been adopted by college instructors as a tool for understanding the underlying nature of social media and what it means for marketing and public relations. Ben's first book, "Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force," (2003) explains how companies convert customers into evangelists who spread the word about products, benefits or value propositions. "Creating Customer Evangelists" has been translated into six languages and has become a strategic focus for companies around the world.

Named as one of the 50 most influential online marketers, Ben co-authors the Church of the Customer blog; with more than 121,000 daily readers, it's ranked as one of the most popular business blogs in the world. He's also co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth, an educational network that helps its several thousand members build word of mouth into the DNA of their organizations. He advises a number of organizations on creating word of mouth and customer evangelism strategies. Forbes calls his work "the word of mouth gospel." He's a graduate of Arizona State University and resides in Austin, Texas.

Praise for Ben McConnell's books:

"('Creating Customer Evangelists' is) the new mantra for entrepreneurial success."
-- The New York Times

"Drop everything and read this book."
-- The Wall Street Journal, reviewing "Citizen Marketers"

Ben McConnell in the media

"Not Just Preaching to the Choir: Marketing expert Ben McConnell shares tips on how to get customers to spread the word" in Restaurants & Institutions magazine
Interview on Chicago Public Radio's "Eight Forty-Eight" program
"Le pouvoir des Citizen Marketers" in Infopresse (French)
"Taco Hell: Rodent Video Signals New Era in PR Crises" in Ad Age
"True Believers: Passionate customers can transform your company. Here's how to make them your secret weapon" in Businessweek
"Social media and network effects" in Businessweek

Jackie Huba bio

Jackie Huba is an author, consultant and principal of management consulting firm Ant's Eye View.

Jackie is the co-author of two books on customer loyalty: "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message," (2007) which documents the emerging world of social media and how brands should begin to embrace a participatory culture. Besides being widely used at companies as an introduction to social media, "Citizen Marketers" has been adopted by college instructors as a tool for understanding the underlying nature of social media and what it means for marketing and public relations. Jackie's first book, "Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force," (2003) explains how companies convert customers into evangelists who spread the word about products, benefits or value propositions. "Creating Customer Evangelists" has been translated into six languages and has become a strategic focus for companies around the world.

Named as one of the 10 most influential online marketers, Jackie co-authors the Church of the Customer blog; with more than 120,000 daily readers, it's ranked as one of the most popular business blogs in the world. She's also co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth, an educational network that helps its several thousand members build word of mouth into the DNA of their organizations.

She is a graduate of Penn State University, a Pittsburgh Steelers fanatic and resides in Austin, Texas.

Praise for Jackie Huba's books:

"('Creating Customer Evangelists' is) the new mantra for entrepreneurial success."
-- The New York Times

"Drop everything and read this book."
-- The Wall Street Journal, reviewing "Citizen Marketers"

Jackie Huba in the media