Each year, we put hours of deliberation into our speaker selection process. Although there’s never a shortage of interesting speakers to choose from, we focus on experts who have actionable tips and strategies that our audience of entrepreneurs and marketers can use to grow their businesses.
We’re excited to announce our roster of keynote speakers plus a sneak peek of speakers for our mainstage talks, workshops and software sessions.
Industry-Leading Keynote Speakers
Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin goes by the self-proclaimed “ludicrous” title, Wizard of Moz. He’s founder and former CEO of SEO software startup Moz, host of Whiteboard Friday, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, co-founder of Inbound.org, and board member of the presentation software firm Haiku Deck. Rand is currently writing a book for Penguin/Random House on the ups and downs of startup culture, due out in 2018. In his miniscule spare time, he loves to travel with his wife, author Geraldine DeRuiter, and read about their adventures in her books and blog. Geraldine and Rand are also small investors in Backstage Capital and Techstars Seattle.
Hilary Rushford
Hilary Rushford’s personal styling business Dean Street Society launched in August, 2011 and soon amassed a loyal following on Instagram, growing to 40,000 followers in just 18 months. Soon, Hilary’s audience began to ask for advice on building their own blogs, businesses and brands. The same professor-plus-therapist-plus-best-friend approach Hilary took with her styling clients carried over into her business coaching clients. In style and in business, Hilary simplifies the complex and builds authentic confidence.
John Jantsch
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker and the bestselling author of Duct Tape Marketing, Duct Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine, The Referral Engine, and SEO for Growth. He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network that trains and licenses small business marketing consultants around the world. Seth Godin once called him “the Peter Drucker of small business marketing tactics.”
Ryan Levesque
Ryan Levesque is an Inc. 5000 company CEO and author of the #1 National Best-Selling book, ASK, recognized by Inc. and Entrepreneur. Ryan has used the ASK Method to build multimillion dollar businesses in 23 industries, generating over $100 million in sales. His student entrepreneurs have used the ASK Method to launch and scale thousands of businesses online. Ryan is also co-founder of Bucket.io, the segmentation funnel software entrepreneurs are using to implement the ASK Method in their businesses.
Landon Ray
Landon Ray, ONTRAPORT’s founder and CEO, is a serial entrepreneur whose personal mission is to educate, motivate and enable others to realize their goal of starting and growing their own businesses. At the age of 25, Landon transformed himself from a street-corner flower vendor into one of the nation’s top securities day traders in only 12 months. After beating the odds on Wall Street, Landon created ONTRAPORT, a marketing and sales automation platform for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Lena Requist
Lena Requist, president of ONTRAPORT, was the driving force behind the company’s 5,000% growth, which landed it on Inc. 500’s list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for four consecutive years. The recipient of a 2017 Silver Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in Computer Software, Lena has been recognized for her impressive background of building startups into multimillion dollar companies. She has fostered a progressive company culture of productivity and empowerment, for which ONTRAPORT continues to receive awards.
Expert Mainstage Speakers
Our mainstage speakers represent the best and the brightest in the marketing and entrepreneurship space.
Attendees will hear digital marketing strategies from experts such as Andrew Warner, who will share strategies for marketing with Facebook Messenger Chat Bots; Syed Balkhi, who will share tips for faster lead generation; and Aprille Franks-Hunt, offering strategies for reaching more customers via live streaming.
Entrepreneurs will gain tangible strategies for increasing their effectiveness from Noah St. John’s session on ending procrastination to get more done, Brad Martineau’s best practices for executing marketing campaigns on schedule, and Patty Aubery’s tips for strategically planning an entrepreneurial career.
Finally, attendees will learn how to make their mark in a competitive landscape. Oliver Billson will share strategies for standing out in front of your audience, and Gene Hammett will reveal how to build trust through content.
Check out the ONTRApalooza speakers page for bios and more details about each of these mainstage speakers.
Hands-On Workshops
During workshops, attendees will take a deep dive into their own businesses and learn how to directly apply the strategies that our innovative speakers have used to get results in their own businesses. Attendees will leave with a list of actionable takeaways, plus the knowledge and skills they need to make them happen. In some sessions, attendees will even do a portion of the work right then and there
To lead these sessions, we’ve chosen speakers who bring a wide variety of skills and experiences to the table, including brand strategists, Facebook advertising specialists and bestselling authors.
Workshop attendees will learn how to leverage social media to build their network with Shadé Y. Adu, strategies for balancing automation and personalization in the sales funnel with Holly Chantal, secrets for publishing twice the amount of high-value content with Maya Elious, and Facebook advertising strategies that will boost revenue with Justin Lofton — and that’s just a sneak peek.
We will be adding additional workshop speakers over the next several weeks to the speakers page at ONTRApalooza.com, so check back often to see who else will be bringing their expertise to the workshop room. You can also learn more about each speaker and read their bios.
Step-by-Step Software Sessions
In the software room, attendees will hear directly from ONTRAPORT experts and follow step-by-step guided tutorials to get more out of the platform, with an emphasis on powerful new features such as the visual campaign builder, performance reporting, and more. Automation experts will share specific tips for building high-value campaigns and continuously optimizing them for even better results.
We will announce many more software room speakers between now and October, so keep an eye on the speakers page to get the latest updates, plus bios and more information.
Associate Editor Megan Monroe is a graduate of Santa Barbara’s Westmont College where she studied Philosophy and Communications. After working for several local small businesses (where she gained firsthand experience with the frustration of manual segmentation and follow-up), Megan joined the Ontraport Growth Team. When she isn’t writing marketing copy, social media posts or educational guides for entrepreneurs, she enjoys taking advantage of the Central Coast's amazing wineries and cooking without following a recipe.
