About
Better Than Advertising

Every business owner knows that referrals are the best way to get customers. Referrals from customers come to you predisposed to do business with you because a friend or someone they trust referred them.

In fact, over 40% of the small business owners who recently participated in an Internet poll by MarketingBestPractices.com revealed that referrals brought them the biggest returns over other traditional marketing methods such as advertising, direct mail and networking.

I started Better Than Advertising Seminars to inform and educate business owners about referral marketing best practices.

Why?

Because it worked for me in my other businesses. As a coach and consultant, without a doubt, referrals are my life blood. I was so honored when a client thought enough of the services that I provided that they would recommend me to their friends, family and co-workers.  Now I want to share this with others who are building businesses and could use the immense ROI of referral marketing.

My Background

After graduating from Case Western Reserve University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a minor concentration in Sports Medicine, I continued my education at The Ohio State University. There I entered the master’s program in physical education specializing in Athletic Coaching and Sports Psychology.

Prior to starting Better Than Advertising, I started a coaching and consulting business where I help people to break free of their often self-imposed limitations to achieve more than they thought possible.

Before starting my own businesses, I worked for 20+ years in various roles from medical technologist to laboratory informatics specialist; from project manager to member of the senior management team of an IT consulting firm. A short list of my achievements includes:

• Self-taught in medical technology, Traci demonstrated her expertise in the subject by passing the ASCP (American Society of Clinical Pathologists) certification examination.
• Always an innovative thinker, she initiated a new laboratory that utilized robots and computers to perform analytical tests. This saved the company over $250,000 annually in reagent use alone.
• Her ability to lead a project of cross-functional teams reporting up through different management structures was key to the successful implementation of a state-of-the-art laboratory information management system.
• As an IT consultant, Traci was able to successfully lead a diverse project team of 50 people from 14 different locations around the world including the US, Puerto Rico, England, Italy, Ireland, and Australia.
• Throughout her IT consulting career, being able to quickly and accurately assess her team’s capabilities allowed her to place the right people in the right roles at the right times and help both the company and consultants succeed.
• As an executive consultant, she played many roles from program manager to inside sales support. She initiated employee development programs and helped create a new organizational management structure.
• To meet her client's goals, she has successfully collaborated with corporate leaders (CEO's, CFO's, CIO's, COO's, President's and VP's) in the domains of pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotechnology, chemical processing, food processing, insurance, oil and gas, utilities, sales, IT and management consulting.

In my spare time, I have volunteered for various coaching, leadership, and mentoring roles including:

• While attending CWRU in Cleveland, OH, I participated as a volunteer in the children's hospice area of Rainbow Babies' and Children's Hospital where I worked/played with chronically and terminally ill children.
• I've  coached basketball at the high school and collegiate levels where I successfully led teams to achieve more than they believed they were possible of achieving. At Columbus (OH) Academy, I led the varsity girls’ basketball team that had a 4-13 record the previous year, to a 13-7 record.
• In Orlando, FL, as the youth pastor for a community church I implemented student-led home groups that not only grew the student ministry from 15 members to over 40, but also grew student leaders.
• Currently, I am an active Little League umpire where I recently received the Golden Mask Award as best umpire in the league.
• I am also a volunteer for the Texas Scholars program that encourages 8^th grade students to build a solid academic foundation as they select their high school curriculum.

Want More Information?

To learn more about my presentations and speaking services, click on the Services tab.

If you'd like to attend a free Better Than Advertising Seminar, click on Calendar to see the upcoming events.

If you are a visual person, watch a short online movie by clicking here.

Traci Duez

Coach, Speaker, Consultant

My Values

Integrity & Honesty: “Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” (Spenser Johnson)

Trust: “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” (George MacDonald)

Compassion: “One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion.” (Simone de Beauvoir)

Faith: “Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without it, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.”

Teamwork: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” (Michael Jordon)

Respect: “There are countless ways of attaining greatness, but any road to reaching one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.” (Buck Rodgers)

Freedom: “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” (Albert Einstein)

Wisdom: “To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)