Monica Luechtefeld is Office Depot’s Executive Vice President of E-Commerce and Direct Marketing. In her role, Luechtefeld oversees the company's global E-Commerce strategies and is responsible for Direct Marketing in the Office Depot North American Business Solutions Division, including Advertising, Creative Production, Creative Services, Circulation & Analytics and Online Marketing.
To lend small businesses a helping hand, Office Depot recently launched the "Small Business Self-Bailout Plan". As part of this "self-bailout plan", Office Depot launched "The Survival of the Smartest" website thesurvivalofthesmartest.com, aimed to be an online resource for small businesses. Monica had this to say about the new website:
“Office Depot has always been committed to helping women entrepreneurs. Particularly during this tough economic time, small business owners need smart, simple solutions to not only help their business weather the storm, but also thrive. We believe that small businesses are the answer to the current economy’s troubles – and the key to getting it going again. That’s why we are inviting small business owners to visit thesurvivalofthesmartest.com for smart tips and resources on how to survive the economic downturn, and to enter Office Depot’s Adopt a Small Business contest. Five hundred small businesses have the chance to win a total of $1 million in prizes. Through both the website and the contest, we hope to help small businesses get access to smart resources they need to be successful in this economic environment and beyond”.
Monica has been committed to online marketing from the start. When asked about some of the challenges she faced in her career and how the challenges helped her get ahead, she told this story:
“The greatest challenge and risk of my career happened about 15 years ago, just a few years after I first joined Office Depot. In 1993, Office Depot had a unique opportunity to test a new venture – known as the Internet. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was looking to move the Internet from strictly government and academia to the business world. MIT invited about 12,000 suppliers to their campus to learn about the Internet. I was fortunate to be a part of those early conversations in 1993 and 1994, and from my experiences in the field – working as a salesperson for years – I really got it. I understood the impact the Internet would have on business relationships and truly believed that this new form of communication was the way of the future for business to business. Looking back now, the decision to participate in MIT’s test venture seems obvious, but back then it was a huge risk for both Office Depot and me personally. It took two long years to connect our first 500 customers; and then 11,000 in year three and ultimately 39,000 in our fifth year. During that time I was always challenged by colleagues and peers. I can recall meetings where I was told to give up and that the Internet was a fad – and that I was wasting my talent and the Company’s money. Now of course, 13 years later, Office Depot’s Internet business generates $4.6 billion in annual sales. From my experience and the challenges I faced, I’ve learned that you have to be the evangelist for your idea and for your vision. If you have a passion – you need to communicate it, and you need great mentors. And when it’s about business, it’s critical that you build a plan that drives a result and be accountable for the results.”
“Women business owners are leading the way for small business. In fact the number of women-owned businesses continues to grow at twice the rate of all U.S. firms and these businesses’ economic influence is increasing at speeds exceeding the national average. Office Depot continues to introduce programs and initiatives specifically tailored for the female business owner. Some of these initiatives have included: the Office Depot Success Strategies for Businesswomen Conference, our signature Supplier Diversity and Tier One programs, and our Women’s Advisory Board composed of leading businesswomen. We are very proud that Office Depot has been recognized with a number of awards in including: National Association of Female Executives Top Company to Work For; Women’s Business Entrepreneur National Council Top Company; Women Executive Leadership Top Organization; among others.”
Nice Post!
The Internet provides great opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses, but doing business online presents unique challenges and requires new skills. Per my experience search engine optimization would be the best practice to improve your online business.
Posted by: Increase Website Traffic | July 01, 2009 at 01:12 PM