Marketing
In my profile, I often describe myself as a "salty marketing strategist." This is because several decades in this industry have taught me that most of what my counterparts call "marketing" is complete bullshit.
While my career, as of late, has branched out beyond marketing, I still enjoy coaching, speaking, and mentoring marketers and entrepreneurs to help them navigate a world of nonsense chomping a the bit to waste their time and money.
My specialties include growth strategies for high-concept and high-tech products and services, as well as community development. On this page you can learn more about my philosophy, approach, and view my portfolio of past accomplishments.
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VIDEOS | ARTICLES | PORTFOLIO | MENTORSHIP
Videos
These videos are a great reflection on my educational style and approach. If you wish to have me as a speaker, run a marketing workshop, or provide coaching for your marketing or sales team, please feel free to contact me here.
Articles
If you really want a “peek into my brain,” these articles show some of the principles I work from when helping organizations understand how to grow sustainably and communicate effectively with their market.
Customers Don’t Want Choice, They Just Want to Participate
Everyone thinks customers want options, but too many options can cause decision paralysis. The truth is, they’re just picky.
What Marketing Can and Can’t Do
Often, the reason people hate their marketing is because of bad expectations.
How the Law of Conservation of Complexity Inhibits Business Growth
Dealing with complexity is one of the greatest barriers to business growth, but many business owners still hope to violate the laws of nature.
Marketing Lessons by Dr. Seuss
What if I told you the best book on marketing is a children’s book? Well, it is.
Portfolio
This is a high-level overview of some of my larger or more substantial projects (at least those not under NDA). During my career I have consulted or worked for over 100 organizations in just about every industry.
I can't claim to know everything, but I am pretty confident I have already made a bulk of all the mistakes possible. If you would like to avoid those mistakes, you would find a conversation with me quite valuable.
Onebridge Data & AI
From Staffing to Consulting
Onebridge started as a company called SmartIT. It grew as a primarily IT staffing and recruiting firm. As they grew, they evolved into more and more project and consulting engagements until they finally decided to switch their business model intentionally.
I was brought on as Marketing Director in 2019, but only after they churned through three previous directors and agencies. My messaging approach helped them generate more leads than all three previous attempts combined.
However, even though my role was “marketing,” half of my efforts focused on turning abstract services into more tangible products and frameworks. This included a proprietary framework for data strategy that they were able to trademark.
Onebridge grew with a focus on data strategy and management, and then naturally evolved into providing AI and Intelligent Automation services. They were purchased by Marlabs, a global digital solutions company, in late 2023.
My favorite project in this engagement was a comic book we produced as a “stand out” sales piece. The response was great for both prospects and employees with one of the most common pieces of feedback being, “This is great, now even my kids know what I do for work!”
DATTUS
Growing a Cutting-Edge Company
in an Established Market
DATTUS provides the most advanced IoT (Internet-of-Things) platform to the industrial market. Their technology allows OEMs and manufacturing companies to collect real-time machine performance and operational data and integrate it with their business processes. The problem with being ahead-of-the-curve, is that your market may be behind-the-curve. This was the challenge DATTUS needed to overcome.
I helped DATTUS implement a complete overhaul of their user interface to be more accessible and appealing to customers, along with a new messaging approach to reach more… hesitant audiences. DATTUS was bought by Plex Systems in 2018.
"Chris, and his team, have been essential is helping us grow a healthy sales funnel and developing our message to a point that quickly communicates our value to potential customers."
- Anurag Garg, CEO at DATTUS
"I have had the privilege of knowing Chris for his entire professional career. Chis is the epitome of my motto: 'why be normal'. He is a deep and quick thinker and artist of thoughts, words, and images. He connects the dots quickly and arrives at practical conclusions for his clients. Those who engage Chris do not get cookie-cutter answers -- they get an answer they would not have arrived at themselves or obtained from anyone else. Each of Chris' engagements is a five-star experience."
- Harry Howe, CEO of Howe Leadership and Mentor-in-Chief of the Failure Institute
The Failure Institute
Growing an Effective Business Community
Harry approached me to help him organize and market The Failure Institute, which is an organization that helps entrepreneurs and professionals understand how to navigate through failure. This both a personal passion of Harry's as well as a way to grow the business community and exposure for his own consultancy, Howe Leadership, which helps small businesses deal with the growing pains of success so they can maintain momentum. The Failure Institute facilitated an entrepreneurial community on the north-side of Indy for almost a decade up until COVID.
The Children's Museum
Helping Tomorrow's Leaders Find Their Voice
I was asked to help the Museum Apprentice Program put on a TED talks like program called "REX Talks." The goal was to help their young members identify and construct presentations that they were passionate about and was relevant to the community. Before I joined the program, the idea was to get local adults to speak, but I talked them into having the young apprentices do the talks themselves. If you have some time, the results were amazing! Click here to view the videos.
Purple Ink
The Power of Tribal Marketing
JoDee Curtis, Owner of Purple Ink, is a joy to work with. She is a passionate entrepreneur and has an engaging personality. Other "marketers" too often recommended that she keep her own beliefs and ideas out of her company brand, but I encouraged her to double down. Her focus on putting the "human" back into HR has attracted like-minded companies like an industrial magnet. Speaking of "joy," my team worked with JoDee to produce and publish the book "JoyPowered: Intentionally Creating an Inspired Workplace." I also helped them launch a podcast in 2017 that is still going!
Chris is incredibly creative, responsible, timely, and a pleasure to have on our team. He went above and beyond in assisting me in writing my first book; he did all the research on printers, helped me with the structure and formatting of the book, oversaw the graphics, helped me stay on my timeline, and continues to be a great inspiration. - JoDee Curtis, Owner of Purple Ink
Elevate Teachers
Starting a Movement
Richard Garrett is a retired professor from the IU Kelly School of Business, and a former manager at Eli Lilly. He has always had a passion for education, but became motivated to act when watching his own son teach in the public education system. Elevate Teachers was founded to raise awareness of the importance of teachers in our society, and fight against the blame which is unjustly directed at them instead of the larger issues with our education system. Richard engaged me to form the messaging, brand, and strategy for Elevate Teachers. My final project was helping to produce the book “The Kids Are Smart Enough, So What’s The Problem?”
In my first encounter with Chris I did not know that his moniker was Chris “The Brain”. Near the end of this very successful meeting I made the comment, “I really like the way your brain works!” He and the gentleman who arranged our introduction began to laugh as Chris handed out his card introducing himself as Chris “The Brain”. My immediate thought was “what a burden to place on yourself”. I have a PhD in applied math and I would never set expectation levels this way. There are a lot of really smart people in this world.
As we negotiated fees to get started with our project, he was very reasonable and a seemingly perfect source for marketing help for low budget nonprofits. So, is the old adage, “You get what you pay for” going to fall away? Without any reservations it has. At every turn he leads us in a very helpful and intelligent manner. He has bright and experience tested ways of doing things and he is easy to work with. He thinks out what he proposes and defends he approach but with a style that is easy to take and flexible. We are delighted with our working relationship and look forward to more great ideas. - Richard W. Garrett PhD, Founder of Elevate Teachers
Chris Hoyt developed the marketing strategy for our organization, the Trinity Free Clinic. Before Chris came on board, we had a very poor webpage, and an antiquated donor management system. Chris created a beautiful new website which suited our needs perfectly, along with a very practical and easy to use donation page. In addition, he researched and found the best Donor Management software to suit our needs. Chris also launched our social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter, and as a result increased the number of followers drastically in a short period of time. He truly established the foundation we needed to make ourselves known in the community, both to our patients and donors.- Dina Ferchmin, Executive Director, Trinity Free Clinic
Trinity Free Clinic
Bringing Professional Marketing Strategy to a Non-Profit Organization
Trinity Free Clinic went under a change of leadership, and the new leadership was frustrated with how outdated the marketing efforts were. Other marketing firms wanted to change the core identify of the clinic and focus on branding, but I recommended they use their existing support-base to build from. In a few months, Trinity Free Clinic has a complete marketing machine in place to manage emails, take website donations, and organize the local community.
Mentorship
Mentorship is what has made the “business world” tolerable. No matter where I work, the best part is always working to help young people get their careers started.
Modern educational institutions do a terrible job at preparing people for life. Beyond just “knowledge,” growing a career requires a variety of skills and perspectives. Even when young people get their first job, they are usually lied to and disoriented by toxic corporate culture.
My focus is on helping young people identify their strengths, manage their weaknesses, and learn to see through the bullshit that pervades the world of “adults.” Below are testimonials of the people whose careers I was honored to provide a positive contribution.
“I met Chris a little over a year ago during the infancy phase of my business. I consider myself (and my start-up) incredibly fortunate to have crossed paths with Chris when I did as he has been an incredible mentor for Social City Marketing ever since.
Chris has not only been an asset to me as I grow my business but also a beneficial resource for my clients. I work with a variety of clients across very diverse industries (some more complex than others) and it has been quite the advantage for us to lean on Chris’ 20+ years of marketing knowledge and his results-driven approach. It seems like every time I have a specific question, even for the most niche clients, Chris always has a solution and often even a detailed case study or article he already wrote on the topic. Not only is Chris a wealth of knowledge, but he’s also a straight shooter full of “tough love” that has helped mold me into a bolder, more confident professional and business owner.
I can’t thank Chris enough for all that he has done! I wouldn’t be where I am as quickly as I got here without his support, intelligence, and sincere drive to help me be successful in all of my endeavors.”
“Chris was a fantastic mentor for me when I first started web development. He gave me the head start a needed to excel at my profession. Chris has the gift of being able to explain some of the most complex concepts and systems in ways that make sense to beginners and experts alike. He has great patience and knows when to provide a solution and when to push you to come up with a solution yourself.”
“I felt so lucky to have Chris has a boss and mentor right out of college. Not only was he a fun and interesting leader to be around, but he truly embraced a peer focused work environment while still encouraging and fueling my professional development. Throughout my entire experience working for Chris, he challenged me and help me development my quality and range of skills. I’ll forever be grateful for the leadership, friendship, and fun facts I gained from Chris and will long consider him a key individual in my professional career.”
“You’ll learn more in one year than some people learn in a decade! When I had the pleasure of working for Chris, I never thought that I would want to be anywhere else. The environment and structure Chris provides is top notch, and is guaranteed to build the foundation you’ll use the rest of your career. Without the excellent learning environment provided to me I would not be where I am today! ”
“Chris is an exceptional people manager which I believe is one of the hardest jobs out there, period. He is a skilled mentor, educator, marketer, writer, super villan, comedian, counselor, you name it. He could be a bit more bashful but I am thankful for his insight, knowledge, and perspective on a daily basis and thus tell him which only inflates his ego further. It is a perpetual problem. So in summary, Chris is the best (no he didn’t pay me to write this, it is the truth).”
“Back in 2008 when I was just seventeen years old my long time friend Chris Hoyt approached me with the opportunity to intern with a marketing company he was working to build called Fat Atom. Intrigued, but somewhat intimidated due to my non-existent knowledge of the marketing world, I began an internship two days a week while completing my senior year of high school. In the early days, I learned about Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Management, and how to work with people on a professional level. At the time, I didn’t realize the massive amount of work it took Chris to convince the company’s owners and accounting department that hiring an inexperienced high school kid wasn’t a gigantic and needless waste of money and time.
Chris’s commitment to building mutually beneficial relationships between new professionals and businesses that need solid marketing, design, and development work, even on a limited budget has been in the process of developing and growing for more than seven years now. In many ways, I was the beta test of the Apprenace program and one of it’s strongest success stories.
Chris’s mentorship put me on the path to become the independent, successful professional I am today with a base of experience that rivals people many years my senior. Seven years, countless projects, millions of dollars in managed business, and a Sr. Account Manager title later I am continually grateful for the education, experience, and opportunity Chris’s early version of Apprenace provided for me. The program is the perfect intersection of young people willing to work hard to gain experience and businesses in need to professional services beyond their current capabilities.
I am incredibly excited to watch Apprenace grow not only as a business but as a platform to bridge the gap between traditional education and real-world experience.”