A Personal Note

"We focus on making your Advertising / Marketing strategies an enjoyable, stress-free experience. Our successful efforts involve a combination of common sense, creativity, organizational talents and effective communication skills."

"The ability to effectively express someone else's ideas and philosophies to another person, or group of people, begins with good listening skills. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to produce an effective Advertising / Marketing campaign or project if the client's goals and objectives are not truly understood.

Consequently, one must be able to take the information he/she has accumulated from the client, interpret it, format it and then distribute it in such a way as to be understood by a targeted individual or group of individuals. In short, the entire Advertising/ Marketing process is and should be driven by what I refer to as Crystallization of Client Objectives."

Rhea Richardson

The Pitfall

All too often, professionals in our industry begin the process by employing a preconceived idea of what "they" think the client wants to communicate, or on what "they" believe the client should communicate to a chosen market. In many cases, this approach is based largely on a superficial client interview, or on a previous experience with a similar product, service, company or industry.

As a result, campaigns and projects that are not based on "true" client objectives and unique company, product or service attributes stand very little chance of achieving the results the client hopes for.

Along The Way

Since 1981 I have been involved in Marketing/ Sales. Over the years I have had the opportunity to market a number of different products and services to many different types of people. Apart from the normal challenges we all face, my greatest challenge has been, and continues to be, learning how to effectively communicate with people.

From conveying ideas, products, services and thoughts in writing, through mass media, one on one, giving seminars or speaking publicly, the challenge remains the same…to create a link with my market or audience that generates effective communication.

Although my study in the traditional disciplines of Advertising/ Marketing, Sales courses and leadership seminars are important tools to be sure, nothing has proven to be a more effective communication tool than the art of being a good listener. If you truly listen to a client you will learn what he wants and what his expectations are. If you truly listen to the market and ask the right questions, you will learn how to sell the client's product.

At A Glance

• Graduate of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with honors
• Married in 1980, (1 wife and 2 teenagers)
• Cat: Siamese
• Dog: German Shepherd
• Interests: Family, martial arts, hunting, hiking, camping, music, writing, fine wine, a good book

A Final Thought

"As Advertising/Marketing professionals it is our responsibility to understand the needs of our clients and of their market, provide them with appropriate creative recommendations, implement the agreed upon decisions within their stated budget and assume a pro-active role in the success of their Advertising/ Marketing program."