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Clarity

Frank Felker

Alexandria, Virginia

Since 1974 I have worked with and presented before thousands of business owners, investors and corporate executives across the country and now have over 25,000 entrepreneurs from 170 countries enrolled in my online business courses.

My mission is to share what I've learned to help you build a business to fund the life of your dreams.

I am easy to talk to and committed to your success. Give me a call.

$5.00/min

2 Calls

14 Reviews

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Business Development Marketing Entrepreneurship Customer Acquisition Sales Sales Management Marketing Strategy New Business Development Lead Generation Branding & Identity

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Marketing Mastery for Small Business Owners

Based upon my 50 years of marketing, sales and small business experience, the Customer Factory Marketing Model explains how marketing works in the most human of terms and presents a system that any business owner or manager can understand and implement to generate whatever level of sales is desired.

I have taught this approach through an online course to thousands of business owners around the world.

the Six Secrets of Small Business Sucess

In 2017 I published the book, Unlocking The M Cube: How To Master The Six Sides Of Small Business Success.

In it I explain that there are six in which you need to build mastery, in order to succeed in small business
1. Mission (Your Why)
2. Marketing (Attracting Customers)
3. Money (Make It, Keep It)
4. Machine (Operations/Production
5. Management (Hiring and Keeping Great People)
6. Minutiae (Bookkeeping, Licenses, Insurance, etc.)

If you can't figure out why you're not happy with the performance of your small business, sometimes it helps to get back to the basics. Give me a call to discuss where your business is letting you down.

Sales Training for Small Business Owners

Every business owner should be their firm's top-producing salesperson. But, to most, Sales is a dirty word.

I felt the same way until, after a business failure, I was forced to take a job as a commission-only salesman at a company with a strong sales culture and system.

My experience was so profound that I wrote a book about it called The Greatest Job You Never Thought Of.

Today I teach business owners how to become proud salespeople representing the best product in the world - their own business.

How to Hire and Keep Great People

Good help has always been hard to find and today's competitive labor market is making it more difficult than ever.

I have hired, managed, trained, promoted and fired scores of people throughout my career and have created a 12-step process based upon my experience that any business owner or manager can use to attract, vet, hire and retain top-quality people for any position.

The two essential elements of my approach are a focus on the needs and desires of the employee and total clarity surrounding the job description and position profile. In other words, finding someone who can - and wants to - become a rock star in this job and giving them every opportunity to succeed.

I teach this process in live seminars (soon to be an online course) and also am hired by firms of all sizes to help them fill specific positions and/or implement my process for ongoing implementation.

Boomer Sells the Business

All these years, as you've been making a good living from your business, you have also been building an asset that you can sell to help fund your retirement.

Unfortunately, most boomerpreneurs (baby boomer entrepreneurs) just walk away from their business when they retire, rather than trying to sell if for a figure which can be many times what it makes you every year.

There are a lot of reasons for this, which we can discuss on our call. My goal is to help you get comfortable with the idea of selling your business and to share a number of ways you can increase its value dramatically in your final 3-5 years on site.

Answers 7
Reviews 14

Answers

Frank Felker answered

Blog strategy for company with two target markets?

If there are any general similarities or common ground between the two target markets you can accomplish this goal with a single blog using target market-specific keywords and category names.
I have a client who is in the home improvement industry, installing replacement roofs, siding, windows, doors, etc. People who need a new roof for example, more often search with keywords and phrases focused on their specific need rather than something general like home improvement contractor.
We use recently completed projects as the fodder for content-based marketing. Blog posts include the town and/or neighborhood, county and state where the work was performed for geo-targeted keywords. We then include a generous sprinkling of "roof," "new roof," etc. along with product-specific words like the type and brand of shingles installed.
We also include a description of the initial problem the homeowner was experiencing that caused them to contact us initially, such as "leaking" or "leaky roof." We do the same thing with all of his other product areas and get a great deal of traffic.
One last trick is to use many of these same keywords as blog categories. I have seen great success with this tactic.
If what I've described makes sense to you and you'd like to learn more, please click "Call Frank" below so we can discuss further.
To your success, Frank

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Content Marketing

Content Strategy

Brand development

Frank Felker answered

Are pre-orders a good idea for beta product launch if your focus isn't solely on consumers?

Pre-orders are always great for testing demand, eliciting end-user feedback and even generating a little revenue! You just have to be sure that you can fulfill whatever product or service the customer is paying for, beta or otherwise. Relative to b2b vs. b2c, I can't really speak to that based on the info you've provided.

To you success, Frank

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Mobile Health

Early-stage Startups

Strategic Customer Development

Frank Felker answered

How do you sell prospective student leads (email address, phone number, etc.) to online universities?

I know of a marketing executive at an online university. I will ask him your question and let you know what I find out.

Cheers, Frank

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Lead Generation

Adult Education

Higher Education

Frank Felker answered

How do we pick which customer segment to pursue after finalizing 10 interviews in each of 4 segments?

In my Customer Factory Marketing Model I have a technique I call creating your Prime Client Profile. Your most profitable target markets will be those who: 1) Have a need most directly in alignment with your solution; 2) You can most readily communicate with; 3) Most clearly see and/or are looking for your unique offering; 3) Are the most ready, willing and able to pay; 4) Are actively looking for a new or alternative cure for their pain.

I hope these general guiding principals are of some help. Without more information regarding your business or offering I can't be much more specific. Good luck!

Frank

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Customer Development

Frank Felker answered

For a new startup, should we custom build enterprise integrations or use a middle-man like MuleSoft, Informatica or SnapLogic?

My recommendation would be to outsource for as long as possible and focus your time and energy elsewhere. Build the simplest, least expensive solution possible and test whether there is sufficient marketplace demand for the concept before investing one dime more than necessary.

Cheers, Frank

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Enterprise Software

SaaS - Enterprise & SMB B2B

Enterprise Architecture

Frank Felker answered

Is it possible for a guy (me) with a bachelor in IT, not too much hands on experience, to become a decent SMB CIO/CTO? If possible, where to start?

You can do this! "Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid."

I have held a number of C level positions in the past, each of which was for the first time. I made a lot of mistakes but learned very quickly. I'll never forget attending my first corporate board meeting as the CEO of the company and Chairman of the Board. Whew! That was hairy!

It is often said that we learn best by our mistakes and that's how I became an expert! :-)

To your success, Frank

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Executive Management

CIO

Small Business

Frank Felker answered

Which questions should I ask to a mkt agency whom i want to handle SEO, Adwords, and social media for an ecommerce site to compare it to another one?

I've been on both sides of the table in this conversation a number of times and have come to the conclusion that the only factor that matters is sales generation.

Page ranking, etc. is all meaningless if their efforts don't result in increased sales - significantly in excess of their fees and your advertising investment.

Don't forget that driving traffic is only half of the equation. Conversion is the other - and perhaps the more important / difficult - part of the equation.

Don't pay someone just to drive traffic without a strategy to convert visitors into customers. Otherwise you're wasting your time and your money.

Ask them for specific sales results they have been able to generate for other clients. Compare the sales increases to the costs of their fees and advertising expenses. Ask for and call references of current / past clients they have generated results for.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "an ecommerce site to compare it to another one" but, in addition to traffic stats, be sure to look at conversion percentages and sales numbers.

To your success, Frank

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E-commerce

Online Marketing

Social Media

Reviews

Frank's skills and experience in a wide range of communication media were on display when we worked together at Online Select. Print, web, audio, video, conference calls - you name it - he did it all.

Art Miller Source: LinkedIn

Over the years, Frank has helped me on several projects; beginning in 1998 through this year, when I hired him to assist me with my company's email marketing strategy. At Digital Imaging Workshop, I saw firsthand how Frank took an idea and turned it into a thriving publishing and seminar business. His newsletter had subscribers from around the world, and his Digital Mastery Tour seemed to be everywhere you looked. That's when I knew Frank was a creative self-starter who will always get you the results you want.

John Gorman Source: LinkedIn

Over the past year Frank's generous efforts have produced prompt and long lasting positive results for my start up business. I've found his clear concise instruction to be very effective. Through Frank's webinars, workshops, and one on one direction I learned to maximize my social media efforts & boost my company's search engine visibility.

Chana Morrow Source: LinkedIn

Working with Frank was always a pleasure, as he brings a fresh perspective to any problem - he always has a direct and common-sense resolution. Frank's ability to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously made him an extremely valuable asset. Success was always assured when Frank was listed on a project's team roster.

Brian Anderson Source: LinkedIn

When I think of Frank, I think of high integrity and high energy. Frank has a huge knowledge of the nuts and bolts of marketing communications, from printing to video. As least as important, he is generous and passionate about his client's success.

Tony Mayo Source: LinkedIn

When we needed to overhaul our website, Frank enthusiastically gave us many good ideas about organizing our marketing activity for further development. His company, Spring Lake Studios, efficiently developed a professional web site for us. This web site has been a consistent source of quality sales contacts for us.

Bob Olding Source: LinkedIn

Frank's can-do attitude and focus on the task at hand was simply amazing to watch. He was a true partner who took advice and suggestions on specific topics to heart and implemented them into his every growing set of tools in getting the job done.

What I enjoyed the most was that Frank tackled the BIG projects that no one else really had the bandwidth to execute as well as Frank had - and he constantly succeeded in this capacity.

We use many of the tools and processes that Frank installed to this day and it was a sincere pleasure to have worked with him over the past year.

Kevin Gawthrope Source: LinkedIn

Frank was a pleasure to work with and has an in-depth understanding of the training and e-learning field that only comes with experience. We worked on a project together and I was pleasantly surprised at his working knowledge of not only the software but the concepts behind the design. SilkWeb fully reccomends Frank Felker!

Laurel Silk Source: LinkedIn

I worked in the field as an Isagenix Associate. I reported to him directly about situations or problems that we were experiencing in the field.
He was a happy, pleasant person to work with and very professional. I knew whatever I reported to him that I could trust it would be addressed.
I was disappointed when I found out he was no longer with the company. The organization he decides to work with will get to experience a wonderful addition to their business team. I wish him the best.

Tracy Branson Source: LinkedIn

Frank interviewed me for his Radio Free Enterprise show, and it was a fantastic experience. His background and expertise in business made him a perfect interviewer for the business audience he is serving. The content and production values are top-notch. Working with Frank has been a pleasure, and I highly recommend him to any business owner, manager, or entrepreneur seeking to maximize their business and dazzle their customers.

Marty M. Fahncke Source: LinkedIn

Frank possesses a multi-faceted wealth of industry knowledge from which I learned quite a bit. He communicates well and is efficient with presentations. In addition to his many professional abilities, Frank has an upbeat personality which made the workplace a very fun and relaxed environment.

J.D. Bickel Source: LinkedIn

Member since March 2014