History
In 2017, founding partners Bud Reed (President and Founder of Liberty Creek Associates), Ben Clark (CEO of Ann Clark Ltd.) and Gwen McShea (Digital Marketing Director of Ann Clark Ltd.) realized that companies were either struggling with growth and profitability on Amazon or terrified of doing business there. The success, strategy, and knowledge they had achieved together was eluding most other companies. This realization, and their willingness to educate others, led to the formation of Lean Edge Marketing in 2018.
Lean Edge Marketing assists brands with finding ways to grow and profitably sell on Amazon. Bud, Ben, and Gwen set off to educate others on the promise and potential of selling on Amazon. Chris Middings, a paid search guru, added his expertise to the firm in 2018. These individuals share a passion for business and marketing that has made them eager to experiment and cultivate a deep Amazon knowledge base from which other companies can benefit. The marketing agency is based in the beautiful state of Vermont.
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Please contact us to discuss how we can help with your Amazon business. We only work with brands and private labeled products.
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Lean Edge Marketing Experts
Founding Partner, President, owner
Gwen McShea
DIGITAL MARKETING & AMAZON EXPERT
From the beginning of the dot-com era, Gwen has honed her skills in digital marketing. She has worked in the new media and digital marketing departments of publishing companies, software firms, service industries, digital marketing agencies and for manufacturing companies. Recently she spent four years at Ann Clark Cookie Cutters and helped them build out their entire direct-to-consumer business as Digital Marketing Director. That included leading the development of a robust Amazon business which grew 2000% under her watch and tripled the size of the overall business. With seven figure sales the company also earned a Top 500 seller status on Amazon. Gwen is eager to apply her marketing knowledge and expertise to your Amazon business.
FOUNDING Partner
Bud Reed
INTERNET MARKETING AND E-COMMERCE VIRTUOSO
Bud is an expert on internet marketing and e-commerce and has a direct marketing, numbers-driven approach to smart e-commerce. Throughout his career, Bud has provided marketing wisdom to clients ranging from Toyota and Fox Home Entertainment to small and mid-market specialty-product catalog companies.
His background includes 23 years of combining astute web development services with cutting-edge internet marketing strategies and campaign execution. From effective web design and usability to search engine optimization (SEO), paid search and e-mail marketing, Bud’s focus is always on ROI for his clients. Bud has served as President and Founder of Timberline Interactive, Dean of E-Commerce at Catalog University and President and Founder of Liberty Creek Associates.
Bud has also served as a judge for the MultiChannel Merchant annual website awards panel, and filled several roles on the board of the VT/NH Marketing Group. He speaks regularly on digital marketing and e-commerce for many direct-marketing industry organizations. In recognition of the current dominance of Amazon, Bud now focuses on helping Lean Edge clients develop their Amazon strategy and grow their Amazon business.
AMAZON SEARCH GURU
Chris Middings
PPC AND DIGITAL MARKETING EXPERT
Chris is president of a consulting firm specializing in paid search, organic search, and social media marketing. With over 30 years of experience in digital and direct marketing, Chris offers the best of both worlds — copywriting honed through writing thousands of online ads, Facebook & Twitter posts, direct mail headlines & copy, along with analytics on what converts into action. In past positions, Chris had tremendous success growing Seventh Generation's direct-to-consumer database 10X through SEO, PPC, social and email marketing. He also put Seventh Generation on the social media map by growing Facebook fans from zero to 1 million+ and Twitter to the #1 household brand & a top 40 brand overall. Similarly, at Lake Champlain Chocolates, he grew their direct-to-consumer business 10X through SEO, PPC, email, direct mail, catalog and print.
Chris is the Dean of E-commerce at Catalog University, and formerly taught internet marketing at Champlain College.
SENIOR CONSULTANT
Tom Funk
SEASONED E-COMMERCE LEADER
Tom is a seasoned e-commerce leader who launched Keurig’s multi-million- dollar Amazon 3P marketplace program in 2018. As Marketing Director at Gardener’s Supply Company, he led a direct marketing team responsible for driving $60M revenue, including a fast-growing Amazon, Walmart and Target marketplace program of over $6M. Previously, Tom was Senior Product Manager of Keurig.com, an $250M ecommerce business and Internet Retailer Top 100 company. As Senior Manager at Green Mountain Coffee, Tom led email marketing, paid search, SEO, loyalty program and a 165K-member subscription business. As VP of Marketing at Timberline Interactive, Tom performed usability consulting and online marketing for clients including Wine of the Month Club, Terry Precision Cycling, Lake Champlain Chocolates, VBT Bicycle Vacations, Garrett Wade, Dakin Farms and Liberty Orchards. Prior to Timberline, Tom helped build and manage the websites of Vermont Teddy Bear Company and PajamaGram.
Tom has written three business books: Advanced Social Media Marketing (Apress), Social Media Playbook for Business (ABC-CLIO) and Web 2.0 and Beyond (Praeger).
SEnior amazon account manager
John Delaney
EXPERIENCED AMAZON SELLER
John is a skilled veteran of the Amazon marketplace, having grown an Amazon business with humble beginnings of selling used coffee table books and DVDs into a full-scale wholesale business with up to $1 million in sales—all from his home. With over 12 years of Amazon experience, he has helped a number of different companies not only increase their existing sales on Amazon but introduce other products from their lines onto the Amazon marketplace for even greater sales. He has a passionate desire to add value to his clients’ businesses and has developed the skills and abilities to help them effectively navigate the ever-changing nature of the Amazon marketplace.
CREATIVE DIRECTION & GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sunghee Jones
DESIGNER EXTRAORDINAIRE
Sunghee Jones is a seasoned advertising professional with 20 years of experience in graphic design. With an early appreciation for visual conceptualization stemming from childhood, the South Korean native completed a college program for Advertisement & Product Design in her homeland. Following college, she worked as an editor for Taekwondo Weekly Magazine, a national martial arts publication. Her heart set on chasing the American Dream, Sunghee ventured to the United States shortly thereafter. After landing in New York City, she then explored the New England area of the states where she fell in love with the beauty of Vermont, making it her home.
Working with an advertising agency called Small Planet, she designed marketing materials such as newspaper ads, brochures, posters, packages, document templates, and websites for a wide range of clients. She also provided freelance design services to several marketing agencies throughout Vermont. In 2020, Sunghee joined Lean Edge Marketing. Naturally friendly and outgoing, she successfully fosters collaborative relationships with clients, designing the materials needed to produce organic growth in sales on Amazon. When the mother of three isn’t balancing parenthood with digital design, she enjoys hiking, painting, and playing music.