Speaker's Bio: Andy Crestodina

Andy is the Strategic Director and co-founder of Orbit Media Studios, an award-winning, 30-person web design firm in Chicago. Over the past 12 years, Andy has provided web strategy advice to more than 1000 businesses.

As a speaker, Andy’s goal is to make each event as practical as possible for the audience by teaching immediately applicable techniques for anyone in a marketing role. He addresses the tough web strategy questions directly with simple explanations.

Andy is comfortable in front of large groups in a seminar format, where presentations are an "all-my-best-advice" approach based on the latest web marketing research. He's also a voice of reason in panel discussions.

Qualifications

Listed on Crains Chicago Tech 50
Author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing
Authored 100+ articles on web marketing, posted on the Orbit blog and other sites including Marketing Profs, Content Marketing Institute, Media Post, Small Business CEO, SpinSucks, Marketing Sherpa, Tech.li and many others.
Interviewed or featured in media outlets including Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Mashable, Chicago Sun-Times, etc.
Certified in Google Analytics (GAIQ)

Recent Speaking Engagements

CEO Roundtable
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Business Marketing Association
Marketing Executive Networking Group
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Content Jam
TechWeek
Medill School (Northwestern University), Loyola, DePaul
Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference
Vistage International

Favorite Topics

Content Strategy - Topics, Keywords and the Conversion Funnel
Content Marketing - Content Creation, Curation and Conversation
Search Engine Optimization - Keyphrase Research, On-Page SEO and Link Building
Social Media - Strategy and Execution
Web Analytics: Three Questions to Ask Your Analytics
Google Authorship - How to get your picture to appear in search results
User-Friendliness That Turns Visitors Into Leads
The Story of Orbit - Entrepreneurship and Bootstrapping

Fun Facts

Mandarin Chinese: BA in Asian Language and Literature, University of Iowa
Co-founder of Chicago Cause, donating $40,000+ worth of marketing services to local nonprofits
Avid Scuba Diver
Certified Chicago Treekeeper
Former Docent, Chicago Architecture Foundation (2001-2008)

What People Say Are Saying

"Andy, you're a firehose of marketing insight."
- Ben

"Andy - thank you so much for your presentation yesterday! It was the BEST I've ever seen! I will now be following you closely."
- Catherine C.

"I was one of the lucky landscape architects who was able to attend your presentation…You were frikn amazing…Hey…THANKS AGAIN…loved it…"
- Chip C.

"I took a 3 hour SEO bootcamp class and I swear I learned more from Andy in 5 minutes."
- A. B.

"I am totally pumped by all the information from that event last night. Hope you will be able to swing by one of my jewelry events next month...I will keep you posted in a new and improved newsletter! :)  You guys rule!   I LOVE ORBIT MEDIA!!!"
- S. Miranda, Business Marketing Association attendee

"Andy, I felt like my brain went through a massive tunnel, like a Willy Wonka chocolate river ride of social media goodness! Thank you!"
- Kevin

"I just wanted to send a quick thank you for the lessons learned at the Wine & Web on Tuesday. The session was great and your templates will be immensely helpful when writing newsletter/blogs and Tweets in the near future!"
- C. Walter, Marketing Manager

"Thanks Andy! It was great to meet you. Your content was incredibly valuable. Far and away the most interesting things on the panel were said by you. :) Thank you for sending your newsletter, please do add me to your list."
- Jonathan, Tech Week attendee

"I have been in the business over 40 years but after hearing your presentation today I feel like I don't know enough about digital content management. It was an amazing presentation. I also loved that you handled audience questions so well too. Thank you for sharing your tricks err techniques so freely."
-Richard

"I thought you were the highlight of the event yesterday. You are unlike so many tech-savvy people in that instead of being some strange combination of vague, esoteric and wonky you are to the point and relevant."
- Brent H.

"I want to thank you for the wonderful presentation yesterday! I have been receiving nothing but great feedback from the attendees. Great job! I liked how it was focused on how-to’s, something people can use right away.
- P. Henderson, Marketing Coordinator

"Andy was a great speaker and his presentation was fantastic; Very helpful and easy to understand/follow. Happy Holidays to you and everyone on your team at Orbit Media Studios. Continued success!"
- F. Ottolino, Creative & Marketing

Content Jam 2012 Evaluation Survey

Content Strategy Presentation at 1871 (100% Awesome)