I will bring ALL of the experience and skills learned over the years to you and your project. Take a few minutes and read what's below to get to know me. The following is my condensed business autobiography.
First and foremost, I am not a teacher nor a typical consultant. I actually can do and implement what I talk about and tell you to do. I started as a mechanical engineer (don't let that scare you) but I found I had a skill for not only solving problems for my employers; but also, I could explain what was actually happening with the problem and the why and how of the solution in laymen's language so that even a child could understand what to do next, the why behind the action and the how. My job as was to make equipment safe for the technicians so that they would go home at night. So I took and continue to take my job very seriously. Be sure to ask me about my "Dupont Air Motor And Oil Experience" when we connect.
Leaving people confused (but nodding their head) because the consultant is so technical and smart is not the goal. The goal is to find a workable solution and get a result.
Management and Troubleshooting
Back in 1990, I started working with The Dupont Co. as a maintenance engineer. In the first 6 months, I saved Dupont over $2 Million in engineering saving. What that means is... I found parts that where breaking that costs up to $300 and replaced them with $4 parts. And I was able to fix some of their processes so that the components would last longer in production so they made less "bad" product. Then I got promoted to maintenance supervisor. Imagine a 22 year old kid trying to manage men who were anywhere from 33 to 55 years old. The training and experience was invaluable. First, learn to manage machines. Second, learn to manage people. Third, learn to manage processes - people and machines. I had a different perspective even then. I thought, if maintenance is busy then something is broken. The goal of my position became keep the guys sitting and keep the machines running. When that was happening... Dupont (in my mind) was making money.
I had the privilege of working for Mobil Oil (1988 - 1989) as an intern sales engineer. Dupont (1990 - 1993) as a maintenance engineer, supervisor and process engineer. General Motors (1993) as a paint process engineer. And finally, FANUC Robotics (1993 - 2004) as a process engineer, program manager, project manager and then as an international account manager.
Direct Mail, Advertising and Cold CallingIn the beginning, I became interested in marketing as a support for sales while I was still working as an engineer at The Dupont Co. (1990). Back then, the only advertising media that I could experiment with was magazine (Popular Mechanics), Newspaper (USA Today) and mail (post card and direct mail). I had some success selling information products like a car buying guide and a marketing manual. I even used mail and cold calling via phone to enroll people in network marketing companies. I remember when I purchased my first computer in 1992 and a cannon bubble jet printer and I could then print business cards, letters and brochures for the products and services I was promoting.
My marketing experience was a hobby for years. I just loved the idea of "manufacturing customers" by writing a letter, finding the right list in the SRDS (old directory of mailing lists) book that I could find at my local library and just making money by mailing letters.
The Good Old Days Of Online MarketingThen it shifted... Around 1993, the internet revolution began for me. Netscape, AOL and CompuServe become popular. On AOL's message board, I began to sell RAM memory upgrades, hard drives, CPUs, motherboards and laptop computers to people all over the US. I was having a blast and learning real time what internet marketing was all about. At that point, I was working as a process engineer at a robotics firm. I happened to sit next a very nice young lady in the marketing department who was tasked to build the company website. At that time, she didn't know how to build a website. Heck, neither did it. But I was willing to learn. HTML was all the was available and to build a website was a new skill. I helped her with that process and learned a ton.
Self Managed Account Manager (Remote Sales)Fast forward to 1997, I got the opportunity to manage an industrial equipment territory in the south. So I packed up my family and moved to TN to manage sales to companies like Nissan, BMW, Honda and Mercedes Benz. While working that territory as as salesman, I learned marketing, prospecting and sales lessons as I built a $300 Million Territory over the next 7 years.
Learning Online Marketing In Real TimeI discovered that if I sent an email to everyone in the manufacturing facility I was visiting before I arrived, I could find out where the new projects were, identify issues and have solutions for my clients before I arrived. This was my introduction to email marketing. Then it started, I build my first lead generation website in 1998. I made my first commission check ($32.10) selling supplements online as an affiliate in 2001. Also in 2000, I was growing a network of salesmen with a company called Locality which offered an online directory for local businesses. My networking salesforce was doubling every month throughout the US. I learned how to use ads in combination with voicemail and fax systems to create ads that recruited new sales people on autopilot.
The Taguchi/TRiZ MethodIn 2004, life changed as I was doing my practical for my Business Professional Certification, I read an article about
Dr. J. Kowalick in Inc. Magazine. The article talked about about how Dr. Kowalick was using something called the Taguchi Method to optimize emails and various advertisements. I was intrigued, tracked him down and became his apprentice for the Taguchi/TRiZ method. Soon I began to take on clients to help them increase conversion on their websites. At that time, I was doing optimization work for companies like Leading Tree (Email), American Express (Telemarketing Scripting - AmEx Open Program) and BASF (Email).
Telesales And Scripting OptimizationI remember getting a call on a Saturday in 2004. It was Saturday because I was in Sears looking for blades for my weed wacker. Anyway, the consultant that was on the line was looking to use the Taguchi Method to optimize the sales scripts for America Express. They were launching a new program called American Express Open and this particular consultant had somehow gotten the assignment to increase the conversion of the scripts that the agents were using for outbound calling. Long story short. What he suggested was not going to work. Over the next few weeks, a partner and I wrote the scripts, designed the testing matrix and gave the consultant the methodology for deployment. In the end, the "acceptance rate" meaning the business owner was willing to take the next step in the process when the agent called. Went from 10% to 50%. A 5x increase over baseline. No one would know it; but, I helped to launch the American Express Open Program.
Selling Via TeleSeminarSeptember 2004, I spoke on my first teleconference call and sold $12,000 of Taguchi Optimization Software in about 60 minutes. My first thought was, "Why would anyone work when you can sell online?" Anyway, that was the start of my business optimization and consulting career.
Dental Sites And SEOIn 2005, I was requested to manage the SEO on over 25 local dental sites. We added blogs, video and lead generation devices on each of these locally optimized sites. All of them ranked well their respective keywords.
Speaking For HireThings shifted for the better again when I was asked to keynote an event in 2006. I remember, it was like breathing. Thus, started my experience as a speaker. And I learned how to sell from the stage. This landed me a position on StomperNet Staff where I worked with over 300 online businesses helping them to create more sales. This is where I created the 150 point web business assessment checklist.
Data Mining SpecialistMarch 2007 - featured in Black Enterprise magazine for the using the Taguchi Method to reduce cost of sale by 90%. One of my students was featured as the case study in the article. His cost per sale reduced from $85 per sale to only $8. I can send you the article for your review at your request. Here is an article in
Direct Marketing News Magazine about conversion testing and tracking.
Tech Editor Adwords For DummiesLearned a bit about publishing in 2007, Wiley Publishing contacted me at the request of Howard Jacobson (Author) to be the Technical Editor for the 1st Edition of the Adwords For Dummies Book. While, I have much experience with pay per click traffic generation, this was my first experience with publishing.
High Ticket Event & SeminarWhile working with Jerry West in 2007, he had this great idea. "Let's do a seminar." I agreed and the SEORainmaker Seminar Series was born. We held the events twice in the Gaylord Center in Florida and once in Nashville. For VIPs we included the clients room in the $5000 per head fee. We had gift baskets in the room when they arrived. Personalized pens, card cases, bags and note books were given as gifts throughout the seminar. We fed them dinner and taught our latest and greatest tools and techniques. And towards the end we, began to take on sponsors.
Lead GenerationIn 2008, I worked with a company that had a new GPS technology for fleet management. I created a lead generation system for fleet owners who wanted to track the trucks in their fleet using a landing page, Adwords and a simple autoresponder. Those leads closed at 20% and were so valuable I got a call from the company a year later requesting the old leads because they were so well qualified.
Author/Speaker and Authority Building Through PRIn 2008, my co-author and I noticed a strange thing in the marketplace. This young Senator from Chicago was running for president and he had more than double the traffic coming to his website than his next competitor. I made a prediction that Barack Obama would win the 2008 election. If, and only if, the politics of politics did not take over. So Brent Leary and I started a podcast where we would discuss the latest real-time happenings with the 2008 campaign from the perspective of what could a business owner learn from the way social media was being leveraged in politics. We would end up writing the book Barack 2.0: Barack Obama's Social Media Lessons for Business. This was not about book about social media but it is a blueprint outlining a systematic method of taking a business from nowhere to somewhere in as little as 18 months.
This book created enough buzz to create 42 speaking engagements, numerous media mentions (Inc, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Fast Company) and even allowed me the opportunity to speak internationally in Dubai, Bahrain and Australia in 2011.
High End Video Content, Design and DistributionWhile preparing for an Internet Marketing Meetup in Nashville (2009), I got a call from a friend. While we chatted, he mentioned that he was Michael Jordan's roommate during the NBA playoffs in 1998. Intrigued, I sat down and I immediately asked the question, "You have access to basketball players like that?" He very matter of fact said, "Yes". I said, "If I were you, I would get a camera and interview the legends and ask them one question...What are the untold stories and life lessons from your career?"
In that moment, Courtside Jones was born. Talani Goodson disappeared for a few months and came back with the first in the series. He interviewed the legends and the greats of basketball. Through Talani's persistence and hard work, the Courtside Jones Series premiered (2012) on The Fox Sports Network and Comcast SportsNet. Then it was picked up by Kevin Hart's production empire.
"Currently, Kimberly is producing a 10 episode docu-series “Courtside Jones” for Kevin Hart’s production company, Hartbeat Productions. This series explores life after basketball through the eyes of great legends that played the game." Now that is what can happen with a good idea is combined with hard work.
See the very first episode with Rick Barry here at 2:59 you'll see my name mentioned as a special thanks.
Startup Experience - Software, TechnologyIn 2010, I got the opportunity hold the position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Learned about startups, stock option and management with this experience. I was able to drive over 5000 members to enroll in 30days from Facebook. Further, we created a lead generation system that provided employable specialty nurses for hospitals which increased the value of the company.
Online Appointment Setting and Telesales OptimizationIn 2011, I worked with a Financial Services company that was selling annuities. Here are the results after 6-9 months of running campaigns.
Result 1: Ad spend Budget Decreased by 45% while providing same number of leads. Cost per appointment dropped from $1,350 to $425
Result 2: Conversion rate of landing pages increased from 7% to 34%
Result 3: Daily booked in person appointments increased from 8 to 55
Result 4: Yearly revenue increase from $8mil to $175mil
Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI) CertificationIn 2012, I was introduced to a tool that I found so very helpful and effective because it showed me how I actually thought and processed information using the "four brains" that we all have. I was so intrigued. I became certified to interpret the data. And if has been the catalyst for breakthrough for so many of my clients as they sort through the narratives that limit their businesses, relationships and lives. I touch on it briefly in this
Tedx Talk - Four Stories to 10X Your Life. Take a look, if you have not viewed this already.
Startup Experience - Infrastructure In 2015, I was asked to be the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for a dark fiber engineering and installation company. Here I learned about packaging a project, fund raising, how to successfully pitch to investors, valuation, government contracts, managing managers and investor negotiations.
So that is that long story made short. I have been around the block a few times.
Not to mention the over 300 business owners from various industries that I had the pleasure to consult with over the years.
The answer to your dilemma might be quietly sitting in another industry just waiting for us to discover it.Read the testimonials. And Then Decide. 30 minutes is all it will take to make a decision to see if this is a fit for you. No sneaky sales pitch.
If I can help you and there is a fit, we will continue.If you have gotten this far... I am looking forward to connecting with you and exploring how we can work together!
