Let’s talk about placing your audience at the center of your business model. Libby Tucker, business reporter at The Columbian newspaper, and Erin McGovney, Portland Realtor, face a challenge that many of us can relate to: how to satisfy business goals while finding, and making meaning for their audience. Each endeavors to address this challenge by building relationships first and allowing their business goals to become satisfied as a result of the engagement. However, Libby and Erin are going about it in different and interesting ways, using methods and tools that suit their respective industries.

As a business reporter covering technology, Libby Tucker and her colleagues at The Columbian created Innovate Clark County a community resource for local entrepreneurs. Thus, giving back to the community that she covers in her reporting and also helping to ensure there are more stories to cover in the future.

As a Realtor with an “obsession for house and home,” Erin McGovney merges her love of design, decor and craft, radical home-making, preserving food, urban farming with her business to give her clients a broader perspective of the homes they tour. She willingly shares her knowledge before, during and after the home buying process to enrich the experience for herself and her clients.

In this panel discussion, hosted by Erin Kurtz of Substance, we will focus on the experiences of these two local professionals as they share their point of view and tactics to better seek out and engage their audiences. Anyone involved in starting their own business or organization, interested in evolving their current small business, or finding out how others build relationships with their customers will enjoy this discussion. Our discussion will certainly revolve around the panelists’ respective industries, but our goal is to share ideas and tactics that could be abstracted for other applications.

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