About Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba, their research and their careers

About McConnell and Huba

Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba are writers, speakers and consultants. Both live and work in Austin, Texas.

Ben McConnell bio

Since 2001, Ben McConnell has been researching the effects of word of mouth on customer loyalty. Forbes calls his work (along with partner Jackie Huba) "the word of mouth gospel."

Ben is the author (with Jackie Huba) of "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message," for which the Wall Street Journal proclaimed "drop everything and read this book." He is also the author of "Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force," which the New York Times called "the new mantra for entrepreneurial success." He is also the co-author of the Church of the Customer blog.

"Creating Customer Evangelists" has been translated into six languages and "customer evangelism," the term he coined with Jackie Huba, has become a talking point and focus for countless companies around the world.

Ben founded the Society for Word of Mouth with Jackie Huba in 2008 as an educational and social network for businesses wanting to incorporate word of mouth into the DNA of their organizations.

As a speaker and business advisor, Ben has worked with Starbucks, Microsoft, Ulta, Discovery Education, Eli Lilly, PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as well as thousands of small and medium businesses at association conferences. For 8 years, Ben was a journalist at the Dallas Morning News. He is a graduate of Arizona State University.

His work in researching passionate customer loyalty has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Fortune, Businessweek, NPR, ABC News, CBS News, U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, Fast Company and several thousand blogs.

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Ben McConnell in the media

"Not Just Preaching to the Choir: Marketing expert Ben McConnell shares tips on how to get customers to spread the word" in Restaurants & Institutions magazine
Interview on Chicago Public Radio's "Eight Forty-Eight" program
"Le pouvoir des Citizen Marketers" in Infopresse (French)
"Taco Hell: Rodent Video Signals New Era in PR Crises" in Ad Age
"True Believers: Passionate customers can transform your company. Here's how to make them your secret weapon" in Businessweek
"Social media and network effects" in Businessweek

Jackie Huba bio

Since 2001, Jackie Huba has been researching the effects of word of mouth on customer loyalty. Forbes calls her work (along with partner Ben McConnell) "the word of mouth gospel."

Jackie is the author (with Ben McConnell) of "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message," for which the Wall Street Journal proclaimed "drop everything and read this book." She is also the author of "Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force," which the New York Times called "the new mantra for entrepreneurial success." She is also the co-author of the Church of the Customer blog.

"Creating Customer Evangelists" has been translated into six languages and "customer evangelism," the term she coined with Ben McConnell, has become a talking point and focus for countless companies around the world.

Jackie founded the Society for Word of Mouth with Ben McConnell in 2008 as an educational and social network for businesses wanting to incorporate word of mouth into the DNA of their organizations.

As a speaker and business advisor, Jackie has worked with Microsoft, Ulta, Discovery Education, Yahoo and Verio as well as thousands of small and medium businesses at association conferences. Previously, Jackie led B2B marketing efforts for 12 years at IBM in its software division. She is a past board member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and a graduate of Penn State University.

Her work in researching passionate customer loyalty has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Fortune, Businessweek, NPR, U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, Fast Company and several thousand blogs.

Download this as a Word file

Jackie Huba in the media