Member since December 2020
Hello!
Orly Zeewy is an author, speaker and a Facilitator of Lightbulb Moments. She helps solopreneurs and emerging businesses turn their their LinkedIn profile into a lead funnel and their web visitors into prospects. She has lectured at Wharton and taught in The Close School of Entrepreneurship at Drexel University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
She has been featured in Medium and her articles have been published in national publications such as The Marketing Journal, Smart Hustle and Lioness Magazine. Orly is a popular podcast guest and has been interviewed on more than 50 podcasts.
Her book: Ready. Launch. Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups was published in May 2021 and was endorsed by Seth Godin. It was the #1 new business book release on Amazon in April 2021. Her second book, Why NOT Me? The Female Guide for Entrepreneurship will be published in 2026.
As a young girl, I saw my dad struggle with building a success business and that stayed with me.
I developed a brand process for startups because I wanted to help founders like my dad, thrive and flourish. That process is the foundation for my book, Ready, Launch, Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups.
Helping reduce the failure rate of startups is my passion. When I help a founder, I'm also helping their family. For me it's both professional and personal.
I've helped 100's of founders and dozens of nonprofits build brands or rebrand their business and organization. The story that stands out for me is the Summer Day Camp that was struggling with low enrollment. The camp had been in existence since the 1950's and had at one time been the gold standard for day camps. The camp was built around a large lake and it's the focus of their activities and all of their marketing materials. When we ran a online survey, we asked parents the number one reason they sent their children there. Out of 100 respondents, only one person mentioned the lake. The real reason that parents sent their children there is because they learned how to take risks and grow as individuals. Their new tagline "Where small kids do big things" reflects the heart of the rebrand and it's the first thing mentioned when families come for a tour. Prior to the rebrand, they still had openings in July. After the rebrand, the camp had a waitlist in March.
I started out as a fine artist but quickly discovered that I preferred solving other people’s problems rather than my own creative ones. That led me to a degree in graphic design from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, one of the best design schools in the world.
I founded and led an award-winning design and marketing communications firm for 14 years. This was before the Internet so our work was primarily in print. When everything shifted to digital, I decided to focus on strategy instead of moving into web design. I went back to school to earn an MBA when my oldest son started college so I could help startups get clear on their business model in addition to developing their messaging and improving their user experience.
My “Aha” moment came when I watched the YouTube video of Simon Sinek and the Golden Circle. I realized that this was what I wanted to do—to help companies discover and live their why.
I joined John H. Wilson, the host and Drexel professor to dig in to my research findings from my book Ready, Launch, Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups, specifically the belief held by so many founders that word-of-mouth is all they will ever need to attract clients. The problem is that referrals are only as good as the people who refer you. That's where market research comes in. Have you identified your ideal client? Do you know what they care about? Is your messaging aligned with a problem that they (truly) need a solution for?
You can hear more takeaways from our interview here: https://zeewybrands.com/messaging-best-practices-for-startups/
There are 310 million active monthly users on LinkedIn and 4/5 are decision makers. 80% of B2B leads come from LInkedIn and 87% of recruiters and HR directors use LinkedIn to find talent. Yet most profiles are invisible. In this LinkedIn Live interview with Michelle Dahl, founder of The Female Roundtable, we discuss the difference between being on LinkedIn and building a brand. The goal is to stand out and avoid being another voice in a sea of sameness.
To watch my interview on LinkedIn Live: https://bit.ly/3TJdZdS
We all know the value of an elevator pitch, but too often our 30-second pitch is just a windup into a long monologue about what we do, how we do it and how beneficial our product/service is to our clients—all without taking a breath. A true elevator pitch doesn’t tell me about your great team, how much you love your customers and the intimate details of your development process. That’s not an elevator pitch. That’s a sales pitch.
An elevator pitch doesn't try to sell me. It helps me understand why you’re the company I want to work with. Imagine you’re talking to someone who could be your ideal client. They just don’t know it yet. What would you want them to know without trying to "sell them?"
Most business leaders struggle to pitch their idea, their business or their brand. Learning to construct the perfect elevator pitch is the first step to cutting through the noise.
To watch my Bright Talk: https://bit.ly/3zJ71NM
I've helped 100's of founders and dozens of nonprofits build brands or rebrand their business and organization. The story that stands out for me is the Summer Day Camp that was struggling with low enrollment. The camp had been in existence since the 1950's and had at one time been the gold standard for day camps. The camp was built around a large lake and it's the focus of their activities and all of their marketing materials. When we ran a online survey, we asked parents the number one reason they sent their children there. Out of 100 respondents, only one person mentioned the lake. The real reason that parents sent their children there is because they learned how to take risks and grow as individuals. Their new tagline "Where small kids do big things" reflects the heart of the rebrand and it's the first thing mentioned when families come for a tour. Prior to the rebrand, they still had openings in July. After the rebrand, the camp had a waitlist in March.
I started out as a fine artist but quickly discovered that I preferred solving other people’s problems rather than my own creative ones. That led me to a degree in graphic design from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, one of the best design schools in the world.
I founded and led an award-winning design and marketing communications firm for 14 years. This was before the Internet so our work was primarily in print. When everything shifted to digital, I decided to focus on strategy instead of moving into web design. I went back to school to earn an MBA when my oldest son started college so I could help startups get clear on their business model in addition to developing their messaging and improving their user experience.
My “Aha” moment came when I watched the YouTube video of Simon Sinek and the Golden Circle. I realized that this was what I wanted to do—to help companies discover and live their why.
I joined John H. Wilson, the host and Drexel professor to dig in to my research findings from my book Ready, Launch, Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups, specifically the belief held by so many founders that word-of-mouth is all they will ever need to attract clients. The problem is that referrals are only as good as the people who refer you. That's where market research comes in. Have you identified your ideal client? Do you know what they care about? Is your messaging aligned with a problem that they (truly) need a solution for?
You can hear more takeaways from our interview here: https://zeewybrands.com/messaging-best-practices-for-startups/
There are 310 million active monthly users on LinkedIn and 4/5 are decision makers. 80% of B2B leads come from LInkedIn and 87% of recruiters and HR directors use LinkedIn to find talent. Yet most profiles are invisible. In this LinkedIn Live interview with Michelle Dahl, founder of The Female Roundtable, we discuss the difference between being on LinkedIn and building a brand. The goal is to stand out and avoid being another voice in a sea of sameness.
To watch my interview on LinkedIn Live: https://bit.ly/3TJdZdS
We all know the value of an elevator pitch, but too often our 30-second pitch is just a windup into a long monologue about what we do, how we do it and how beneficial our product/service is to our clients—all without taking a breath. A true elevator pitch doesn’t tell me about your great team, how much you love your customers and the intimate details of your development process. That’s not an elevator pitch. That’s a sales pitch.
An elevator pitch doesn't try to sell me. It helps me understand why you’re the company I want to work with. Imagine you’re talking to someone who could be your ideal client. They just don’t know it yet. What would you want them to know without trying to "sell them?"
Most business leaders struggle to pitch their idea, their business or their brand. Learning to construct the perfect elevator pitch is the first step to cutting through the noise.
To watch my Bright Talk: https://bit.ly/3zJ71NM
