Michael Covington Email & Phone Number

Colorado Springs, Co, Us

Colorado Springs, Co, Us

Lead editorial direction, content acquisition, new product development and strategic partnerships for the Learning Resource Group at David C Cook. We are a non-profit ministry dedicated to equipping the local church with leadership and discipleship resources.

Colorado Springs, Co, Us

Leading content acquisition strategy, author relations and strategic ministry alliances for David C Cook, the largest non-denominational church resource provider in the world. Focusing on leadership and discipleship resources that serve the local church in their efforts to make and teach disciples of Jesus Christ.

Colorado Springs, Co, Us

• Conceived and implemented a digital strategy for the trade book group focusing on the exploitation of digital content rights, leveraging new business models and the utilization of technology to reach new audiences in the 21st century• Responsible for the creation of more than $1.5M in new revenue in my first twelve months and successfully launched a proprietary B2C book marketing platform (http://www.dccebooks.com/) that has generated more than 100,000 customer leads• Utilizing creative pricing strategies, increased languishing revenues on author Renee’ Riva’s novels, generated enough income to payout all remaining advances and begin generating regular royalties for the author• Published more than half a dozen first-to-digital titles such as Five Days in Skye, Losers Like Us and A Travelogue of the Interior testing the creation and launch of a new line of trade books known as C-Books and sold exclusively as e-books through digital channels such as Amazon and Apple• Member of the David C Cook publishing board, providing input into title acquisition for the publishing program of 60 – 70 trade book titles per year• Presented marketing plans to authors and their agents for new titles as well as product development strategy for ancillary digital products• Developed two interactive children’s apps based on the popular Toddler Bible (The Easter Story and The Christmas Story) for distribution via the Apple app store• Implemented a localized pricing structure for the sale of digital goods in the international marketplace, creating new revenue on English titles previously not widely available in those markets• Led a cross-departmental working group that successfully completed three projects to advance the organization’s digital goals (corporate Box.com adoption/integration, improve HQ wireless accessibility, design and build first ever inter-office co-working environment)• Reported to Vice President, Marketing

Colorado Springs, Colorado, Us

• Product owner responsibilities, including setting strategic direction and business priorities• Achieved 33% customer growth and 80+% recurring revenue and customer retention rates• Achieved an NPS score of +50 in the first year after new application launch• Oversee and prioritize a deep backlog of requirements for our featured product• New product development ideation and go-to-market planning• Responsible for sourcing and managing external business partnerships• Manage and invest in the development of six full-time employees including marketing, sales, support, and development• Sourced and managed multiple independent contract agreements (design, engineering, digital marketing services) to facilitate greater cost savings for the organization• Oversaw successful adoption and implementation of SaaS-based CRM and automated marketing solutions.• Managed entire business unit with full P&L responsibilities• Analyze broad market technology trends to identify future product development needs or to improve sales of existing offerings• Consistently demonstrate loyalty to the overarching corporate mission, leading across the organization whenever asked and wherever necessary• Responsible for building and growing a high-performance team; capable of building an industry-leading digital platform as well as maintaining the smooth operation of the platform and continuing to exceed customers’ expectations• Demonstrated ability to incorporate continuous customer feedback into product improvements• Exhibit knowledge in technology development, sales, and marketing• Report directly to CEO

Colorado Springs, Colorado, Us

• 3 years of experience in creating and closing partnership agreements with parachurch organizations and publishing operations• 1 year of Scrum project management experience in building and launching a new software as a service platform• Responsible for generating more than 17000 qualified B2B leads in first year from new product launch• Successfully retained more than 80% existing customers from prior software version• Established a comprehensive go-to market strategy utilizing five distinct marketing channels (content, events, SEO, paid advertising, pay-per-click and email)• Performed competitive and market gap analysis with budget responsibilities for all marketing spend ($250K annually)• Used project management tools, reports, templates, mentoring, & training to coach internal development and marketing teams in Agile principles• Implemented the use of relative sizing for project estimation in all marketing team projects• Along with the Managing Director wrote all-new feature requirements• Led the creation and development of disciplr.com, growing organic traffic from zero in 2015 to more than 60,000 unique visitors per month in August 2017• Published more than ten original e-books, reading plans or infographics responsible for generating more than 20,000 qualified leads• Conceived and built an interim CRM-like solution to manage and track lead nurture and conversion for more than 2000 leads utilized by three full-time sales consultants• Responsible for establishing more than a dozen strategic partnerships with church-based and professional resource publishers• Negotiated the framework for an agreement to license intellectual property on behalf of David C Cook to a non-profit Christian ministry for distribution via a native mobile application in 49 different languages• Reported to CIO for parent org initially and then Managing Director before being promoted

Tempe, Arizona, Us

• Wrote requirements, gathered survey data and ensured delivery and sale of final reporting outputs for industry-wide Salary & Benefits, Financial & Sales and Marketing Surveys representing the $1B Christian publishing industry• Engaged and oversaw strategic alliances with industry partners that help publishers to better collect, manage, analyze and disseminate critical business intelligence and data• Directed the content development for ECPA's PUBu Online program and Publishing University event held annually in the Chicagoland area• Provided consultative services to member publishing executives on a range of topics relative to publishing best practices• Coordinated social media marketing campaign for the national Christian Book Expo, held in Dallas, TX in March, 2009• Conceived and launched christianbookexpo.com for distribution of industry standard bestseller lists.• Created and managed a strategic partnership with R.R.Bowker to collect, track and report business intelligence related to publisher sales activity for tens of thousands of titles published by ECPA members• Responsible for generating more than 20% of the association’s annual revenue• Wrote requirements for and worked with third-party provider to launch a new association membership website: www.ecpa.org• Transitioned the association office from a Microsoft Small Business Server environment to the exclusive use of Apple machines and networking devices, personally installing all hardware and software necessary• Reported directly to CEO/President

• Employee recruitment and retention, managing an average team of 12 -15 full and part-time sales associates• Setting staff schedules as well as store hours to maximize revenue and margins as needed• Set pay rates ranging from minimum wage hourly to $30,000/per year salary• Developed annual open-to-buy budgeting process, accounting for seasonal inventory spend on books, music and gift merchandise• Inventory management of more than 10,000 SKU’s, utilizing ongoing departmental audits and setting min/max inventory levels based on weekly demand cycles• Personally completed implementation of all hardware and software in transition to Bookstore Manager Point of Sale system, including all data transfer from prior system• Created weekly employee staff meeting and training rhythm, focusing on upselling, consultative selling techniques, merchandising and customer service• Assign employees to specific duties• Perform work activities of frontline employees, such as stocking shelves, hanging promotional materials and serving customers• Consistently maintained 97%+ customer data capture rates• Annual inventory turn of 3.5• Increased bookstore revenue by 77% in the eight years managing• Signor on company account, authorized all accounts payable payments and other expense management such as rent disbursements, marketing spend and payroll• Oversaw the planning and execution of more than eight key promotions annually including The Big Sale (October), Fiction Sale (June), Super Saturday (Febuary) and Black Friday (November). Each promotion included in-store merchandising, catalog mailing to more than 10,000 active customers and promotional pricing• Created business plan and financial modeling for expansion into a new build location, securing financing of more than $300,000• Managed store design and build with national store design firm to create a one-of-a-kind store layout• Report directly to store owner

• Employee recruitment and retention, managing an average team of 10 -15 full and part-time sales associates and dog groomers.• Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, animal husbandry or in performing services for customers.• Planned and directed store improvements including build-out of additional space, adding 1,000 square feet of selling space and modernization of animal display areas.• Managed all vendor relations and merchandise purchasing for an annual retail volume of $1M.• Implemented brand standards including employee uniforms, new signage and interior merchandising.• Create and manage pricing policies for merchandise, services and pets, according to profitability requirements.• Install and maintain computerized inventory management and point-of-sale system.• Implemented computerized bookkeeping and payroll management.• Performed daily store opening and closing procedures.