Clay Hall, CEO, Aspire Media, LLC, Loveland, Colorado
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
Hall: Started publishing magazines while in college—Richmond Magazine in my home town.
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road.
When I flunked retirement and started Aspire Media. I retired too early—age 46—and got back into business at age 50 during the most challenging and exciting time in my 33 years, owning, operating and advising media companies.
In brief, describe your business/company?
The world’s leading online and offline content company for artists and crafters—with a heavy online and eCommerce focus.
What are two or three important concepts or rules that have helped you to succeed in business?
(i) first spend time trying to figure out how something could work before acknowledging the challenges or roadblocks; (ii) work harder than your competitors; (iii) hire people who are smarter than you are.
What is the single-most successful thing that your company is doing now?
Online audience aggregation, development of new digital content products and eCommerce.
Do you see a trend or path in 2010 that you know you have to lock onto?
Continued migration of content consumption, marketing and transaction from offline to online.
What are the key benefits of SIPA membership for you and your team?
Hear wins and losses from others who are in the business of marketing content products to end users (not advertisers).
Where did you grow up?
Richmond, Virginia.
What college did you attend? Is there a moment from that time that stands out?
Virginia Commonwealth University. When I graduated was the most memorable moment since it was a seven-year, three-university undergraduate program, and I had already been publishing magazines for several years by the time I got out.
Are you married? Do you have children?
Yes. One step-daughter, horses and bird dogs.
What is your favorite hobby and how did it develop in your life?
Fly fishing and bird hunting are my current passions. I developed them after moving to the Rocky Mountains since I could no longer sail, which was my passion while living near the coasts for most of my life.
Is there a book you recently read or movie you saw that you would recommend?
“The Last Stand” – Nathaniel Philbrick.
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The Marketing Conference in Miami
will be the perfect time to hear about “those wins
and losses from others who are in the business
of marketing content products,” as Clay Hall said.
Come to SIPA’s 27th Annual Marketing Conference
Nov. 10-12, at the Ritz-Carlton in Miami Beach
The Pre-Conference Workshops will also be an
excellent place to recharge your thought processes.
Sign up for the Marketing Directors Roundtable or
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