Who am I?

Hi, I’m Maxine Teller, an independent business strategy consultant with 18 years of success defining business strategies, developing new revenue opportunities, and expanding distribution for public and private sector clients.

I am a connector.  I connect people (network development).  I connect organizations (business development).  I connect ideas (strategy).  Although I have a lot of experience with social media and can certainly create and execute a successful social media strategy for your organization, I do not consider myself a social media consultant.  My real passion is solving interesting, strategic business problems.   My unique angle is leveraging the principles behind social media–collaboration, information-sharing, transparency, crowdsourcing–to help clients to more efficiently and effectively achieve their missions and business objectives.

The power of social media is not in the tools and technologies, it’s in the behaviors and business practices that they enable.  Starting a blog will not increase your sales.  Getting a Twitter handle will not improve employee satisfaction.  Authentically engaging and participating in the conversations your stakeholders–internal and external–are already having, will.

In successful organizations, people support what they help to create.  It’s one thing to recite this as a mantra, it’s quite another to make the organizational and technological changes necessary to truly integrate it into the fabric of your organization.  Organizations that can be real and focus on results will stand ahead of their competitors, attract and retain their employees, and achieve their long-term objectives.

I’ve advised companies and organizations including:

• U.S. Department of Defense
• XM Satellite Radio
• USA Today
• The HealthCentral Network
• Comcast Cable
• Discovery Communications
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
• Freewebs

What did I do before social media changed everything?  Well, really, all of the components which have now collided and spawned social media: new media, innovation, communications, sociology, and technology.

• Explored and evaluated new businesses and managed content syndication at washingtonpost.com
• Developed and executed the Pentagon Channel’s distribution strategy
• Founded an award-winning financial services startup during the dot-com boom
• Developed clients’ online communications strategies and websites with (now-defunct) marchFIRST
• Guided executive teams at IBM, 3M, and HP through strategic innovation initiatives that wove together industry foresight, customer insights, and internal alignment to create future businesses
• Earned my MBA from Georgetown University and my BA in sociology from Brandeis University

When I’m not online, I like to run, in-line skate, spin, strength-train, cook without recipes, support the whole grain movement, drink strong decaf, search for the world’s best scone, picnic, drive faster than I should, explore new places, and dream of traveling to exotic destinations.

I live in Washington, DC with my husband Paul, my daughter Aviva, and my son Joshua. Tweet me–@mixtmedia–if you’re going to be in DC and want to join me at my favorite Starbucks.  If networking were a job, I’d apply in a heartbeat.  Click here for my resume.