Content marketing is one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — tools a business can use to grow. Done well, it attracts new customers, recruits great employees, opens doors with investors and partners, and arms your sales team with assets that actually close deals. In this in-depth workshop, Kelsey Raymond will share the strategies she used to build Influence & Co. into a nationally recognized content marketing firm before its acquisition by Intero Digital in 2022. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of where content marketing fits (and where it doesn't), tactical playbooks for earning media coverage and op-ed placements, frameworks for measuring ROI, and practical ways to use AI tools to work smarter without sacrificing quality

Objectives:

1. Understand how content marketing can attract new customers, employees, and investors or partners — and learn which industries and business types are the strongest fit (and which aren't).
2. Get tactical, ready-to-use advice for pitching op-eds to online editors and stories to journalists, including outreach tools, message templates, and how to use AI to scale your efforts without losing quality.
3. Learn how to measure the ROI of content marketing — including realistic timelines, early signals that your strategy is working, and the metrics that actually matter.
4. Discover how content marketing can directly support your sales team, with specific examples of how the right content shortens sales cycles and helps close deals.

Cost: $45 for OzSBI Members / $65 for non-members

Facilitated by: Kelsey Raymond, University of Missouri, Executive Director of Entrepreneurship Programs

Kelsey Raymond is the Executive Director of Entrepreneurship Programs at the University of Missouri. She brings firsthand entrepreneurial experience to this role as she founded and led Influence & Co., a content marketing firm that sold to Intero Digital in 2022. That journey, from startup to acquisition, gives her a unique perspective when working with the next generation of entrepreneurs. Outside of work, Kelsey is on the board for Mary Lee Johnston Community Learning Center and keeps busy at home with her husband and two sons, where her free time is split between chasing her kids around and trying to get her golf game back