A trained journalist, Tia Dobi learned the value
of proper wording, lighting, colouring, lensing,
styling, shooting, titling and creating of promotional
campaigns in her first career job.

She was recruited by music-industry
giant Bill Young Productions, working on
radio and television advertising spots for
concert tour and sports promoters nationwide.
Along with music videos for gold and platinum artists.

A pit stop as a radio sports stringer
had her interviewing Yogi Berra, NHRA
drivers and NBA ball players. Naked.
(Them, not her.)

Pink elephants flew backwards meeting
the demands of above and below-the-line
talents during the 5 years of production
managing television commercials. And
casting them as well. Other film projects
include made-for-TV movies and documentaries.

A request to create a career show for
kids had her hanging out in schoolyards,
interviewing child psychologists and
sprawled on the living room floor scribbling
her thoughts on 3X5 coloured
index cards .

That 1st written and produced TV pilot
sold to Hollywood via NATPE. And sparked
a show series that aired on Discovery.

Following a brief span in New York City
working with Walter Cronkite, Geraldo Rivera,
Conan O'Brien, "CBS Evening News with
Dan Rather" team, and "60 Minutes"
on-air reporters, the Blizzard of '96
sent her to Los Angeles to discover
the world of: consumer research.
Getting inside the customer's buying brain.
Which lead to: testimonial gathering and
story-writing.

It was a match made in heaven as
ghostwriter for NY Times best-selling
author and lively infomercial guru
Matthew Lesko. Titan direct-mail
publisher, Agora, distributed her
fee-based newsletter articles. Which
helped back-end sales of Lesko's books
on entrepreneurs who got free money
from the government.

Tia decided to get some free money
of her own.

On scholarship, she attended multimedia
school fulltime, learning how to monetize
websites. [How to get your website to sell
like crazy.] Search engine keywords that
pull minds like magnets. The mastery,
magic and avoiding misery of e-commerce
site usability such as: "You are not your
customer"; "No mystery meat navigation";
"Avoiding maddening motion"; and "Design drift".

A call in spring 2000 lured her back to
Houston on the promise of "e-Power",
(Enron's commercial broadband OS
product).

Surrounded by brilliant storytellers,
computer programmers, illustrators,
animators, musicianers, and streaming
video specialists, her first
interactive DVD won 2nd place
out of 3,000 entries snagging an advertiser's
International Summit Award for
creative excellence.

Facing a flatlined business climate in
the Bayou City, it was off to school again.

This time for 2 Microsoft Certifications.

In 2003, recognising that the design-build
of film production and sexy high-rise
construction are kin, Tia became a candidate
recruiter in the $3 trillion real estate industry.

The Houston Business Journal asked her
to write a commentary for its special real
estate section. Another trade journal
requested reprint rights the day it hit the
stands. Tia decided that promotion was
for her.

She grabbed her heart-tugging
desire to be PT Barnum in a skirt, and
hightailed it back to Los Angeles. With
a history of 6-day workweeks in film, then
digital media, (7 as a recruiter), she knew
she could do whatever it takes to succeed
at selling clients' products and personalities.

But now in a career that insists she
come up with ideas by the truckload.


With no job and no contacts, she got busy.
(After all, starting from scratch is her
specialty.)

Brand relevance.
Branding [the emotions you
emote + evoke] is a first-love and
her letter on same was published
by the editor of The Los Angeles
Business Journal in March 2004.

Through temping, Tia learned the lay
of the land, made contacts, was able
to attend tons of industry functions,
get local references, go to school,
build a publicity and advertising
portfolio [that they said she needed],
create work that pulled ROI for her
clients (and testimonials for her),
conduct informational interviews,
and construct this promotional website
[bare-handed].

Currently Tia writes two monthly
web journals. The blog "Expand The Brand"
teaches how to build the most
precious market commodity: this thing
called YOU.

An e-zine column "Press. Profit.
and Provocation. Library Promotion for
the Over-Educated," reaches 7,000 academics,
IT specialists and librarians.

Having a gift for cinematic use of television
combined with a nose for selling, her current
career is driving creative to sales marketing
campaigns at ad agencies, PR firms, marketing,
branding and direct response companies. Or
anywhere there's a selling endeavour.

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in
Broadcast Journalism from Dan Rather's
alma mater and 2005-wrapped grant-funded
courses in advertising, branding, entertainment
publicity and copywriting at UCLA Extension's
School of Journalism and School of Business &
Management, Tia reads a book a week.
And flies kites.

On what she's learned in class about
marketing, Tia says,"The modern branding
agent has to be savvy about new technology,
the Internet, and how to brand products across
multiple platforms. If I'm not working
at getting work, I'm practicing. And studying
the experts. My byline 'Saleswoman
behind a typewriter' is a serious one.
That's my answer to the interview question
'Where do you want to take your career?'
Giving people and products a touch
of rarity; writing to inform, show and sell
is my life. It's O.K. to be perceived as
starting over. 'A woman lives her life the
best she can until her destiny is revealed' is
a wise trademark from The Last Samurai.

Every brand has two choices. It either grows.
Or it goes."

Since returning to Los Angeles, Tia has worked
as Marketing & Creative Director for Los Angeles'
largest union (S.E.I.U.), Sales, Marketing & Product
Copywriter for Cal-Spas, Interactive Quality Assurance
Specialist/Copyeditor for Rapp Collins' Digital Media Group,
Copywriter for a search engine marketing company and as
a freelance copywriter/creative marketing consultant
to large and small businesses. She has recently wrapped
work as a new content developer for a business intelligence
firm and is currently creating phraseology for a record
industry executive selling a seminar on how to get a job
in the music business.

Brand resonance.
Maybe Tia can help you to tell well. Call 310.839.2468.