Hello, my name is John Kirker and if you are interested in how i got here, read on.
In 1982 I received my first computer - I was 11. You may have read stories about kids like me. Back then I was known as the Cookie Monster running a pirate board called Sesame Street for a warez group called Rowdy American Distributors.
In 1991 while bouncing from job to job I found myself selling sales training to Realtors. While working and learning from one of the nations most established sales trainers I was exposed to a marketing consultant who my employer had hired to create a marketing strategy and campaign.
That marketing campaign was rolled out and the response was absolutely incredible. New clients were beating down our doors. I had never seen anything like this but I had to know more.
I learned that although I was told cold-calling was best, there was yet a better way, one that leveraged the power of endorsement and offered a no-risk guarantee. The sales were made before the prospect ever picked up the telephone and as a salesperson it couldn't have been better.
I was so intrigued that I went to work for this company eighteen months later. This was my first time in a hybrid role managing and tracking the results of campaigns and also getting on the phone with clients, prospects and joint venture partners. My first venture as a CTMO at 22? Nah, but it's an interesting tangent.
So back on track. I was working for America's highest paid direct marketing consultant - he actually charged $5,000 an hour for his time, in the early 90's when the economy was horrible...and people were paying it. While there I became very close with this marketing partner - he still today is a very dear friend, like a business father to me.
Then my life changed forever one day in 1994. My friend Scott Weir and I got an early version of Mosaic (later to be known as Netscape). We got it installed and then got online with it. That day changed both of our lives.
Scott went into hardware and systems admin and I started a software development/internet marketing company called The Stirling Bridge Group. SBG built websites, hosted, or consulted with dozens of Fortune 500 companies. We also helped many household brands get online and grow - many to the point of self-sufficiency hiring their own staffs and bringing things in-house.
I sold SBG July 1, 2001 and I stayed on board to help the new owners run the company and see that a few promised projects were fulfilled. I left my position September of 2003 and spent a couple of years getting some personal things in order..
Mid-2005 the search for a new passion began. Like always, I was drawn back into technology and marketing.
While looking back I realized that I was somewhat unique. I was strong in both Technology and Marketing - and very strong marrying the two. Everything which I looked at had to prove out from both a Marketing/ROI perspective and a technology perspective. The goal was always to fuse technology and marketing to create maximum results.
I now have one holdings company with several companies under its umbrella. One company is a labor of love, a national directory of ice rinks. The other company is more serious. We help companies establish marketing strategies that focus on best utilizing both traditional and online marketing methods. Working together creates what we like to call a force multiplying effect. The sum of the two is much greater than their individual elements..
This blog is a testament to our techniques. I'll write using both my clients and others as examples. Some articles will be pure marketing plays while others are pure tech plays. And hopefully, many of them will be demonstrative of hybrid approaches. The who, the what, the how and the why.
Possibly, you'll be able to pick up on what's going on, tweak it and use some for your own benefit.
Hope to see you around.
John J Kirker
CTMO - Chief Technology Marketing Officer