Typically consumer behavior and shopping habits are reasonably stable and slow to change. When major changes do happen they are usually driven by a major life event such as moving, having a child, or changing jobs. And since only a very small percentage of consumers have those events at once, marketers and business owners can […]
Who is this Andre Vatke guy anyway?
Back in the 1990's I started a direct marketing consultancy while sill in college. I quickly noticed that my clients need more than just media and demographic targeting advice. They needed to fully integrate their product ideas with stories that connected with their potential customers.
This effort to help my clients get better results worked so well that I soon had to hire staff to help me keep up. It also spawned the idea that there were many entrepreneurs and independent business owners that didn't have access to core marketing education and unbiased professional advice. This led me to found Leaders Club in 1994 which became not just one of the first online businesses but one of the first online education companies dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs the in's and out's of the ever changing marketing landscape.
Through Leaders Club we developed our own in house technology for streaming content, managing subscribers access, all back when average internet speeds were still measured in kbit! While Leaders Club grew to a multi-million dollar company, our technological expertise led to another promising business, Nebulis Networks, a web hosting and internet access company.
I understand entrepreneurs because I am one!
Over the more than 20 years since I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and small business owners to improve their marketing, business efficiencies and profit margins. I'm first and foremost and entrepreneur at heart. I understand that you're in business to make a profit and if we work together, that's what we will always focus on first.
Through Leaders Club we developed our own in house technology for streaming content, managing subscribers access, all back when average internet speeds were still measured in kbit! While Leaders Club grew to a multi-million dollar company, our technological expertise led to another promising business, Nebulis Networks, a web hosting and internet access company.
I understand entrepreneurs because I am one!
Over the more than 20 years since I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and small business owners to improve their marketing, business efficiencies and profit margins. I'm first and foremost and entrepreneur at heart. I understand that you're in business to make a profit and if we work together, that's what we will always focus on first.
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Request A Free ConsultationCompanies I've Founded...
On set of my video training course 'Master The Art of Prospecting'
Target Media Group
I started this direct marketing company while still in college. The company started when several direct response marketing companies asked me to help them improve their marketing results. The company became my foundational project employing over a dozen full-time staff and several hundred commissioned sales reps.
Leaders Club
I founded this company in 1994 and built it into a multi-million dollar company. A pioneer in eLearning , eCommerce, and software as a service (SaaS), we developed in-house solutions to allow secure content streaming, interactive learning and customer tracking tools for over 40,000 monthly users.
Nebulis Networks
I started this internet service provider and grew it into a regional hosting and internet access company during the first dot com boom. Over time, parts of the company were sold and IT consulting became the core function of the business until 2005 when remaining assets were sold.
Foundation For Academic Excellence
I was the Chief Technology Officer for this small non-profit that focused on supporting extracurricular academic programs for schools in central Ohio. My technology and organizational skills allowed us to successfully support thousands of students as well as host the largest STEM (science, technology and math) competition in central Ohio and one of the largest in the nation.
Types of Companies I've Work With...
I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Regardless of industry or product the foundational psychology of marketing and marketing strategy remain the same, as do the core logistics of a company such as accounting, employee recruitment, customer retention or process improvement. When I work with a company I work directly toward their goals and in the context of their needs.
Why I Consult...
After starting and running several successful companies, I was hit with several strokes on New Years Eve 2016 due to a vascular accident. While this event has changed my personal philosophy and approach to life, it couldn't have been better timed as I didn't have any major commitments at that point. This event did however, leave me unable to walk, swallow and without a voice. As someone who had done a lot of public speaking (click to view one of my YouTube channels) it was a devastating to not be heard. As someone with a second degree black belt who occasionally taught self-defense classes, not being able to walk, no matter how hard I tried, was a shock that's hard to describe.
Over the course of over two years I fought to regain my abilities and have recovered about 90%. It was a long hard road and while I have a ton of expertise I have no desire to start a new company. I enjoy working with a limited number of clients and helping them solve problems that increase results. What I'm not is a motivational coach... though results tend to be motivational in and of themselves! (Learn why motivation isn't enough for success.)
Education
I have undergraduate degrees in marketing, business and information technology. I have a masters degrees in management and business administration as well as post graduate study in social psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Certifications
I hold a variety of IT industry certifications (CompTIA and Microsoft) covering hardware, networking, security, SQL, and servers. I'm a certified project manager and have been certified in email marketing and landing page optimization through MECLABS since 2006.
Some of my thoughts...
If you are new to working from home, a few simple tips can help keep you on track and productive. Learn the advantages and disadvantages as well as basic rules for setting up a productive home office for both workers and employers.
Every so often there’s an amazing marketing seminar or business conference coming to town. If you’re skeptical about promises of success, you should be. Few if any participants get the benefits that are promised or implied. I look at how these seminars work and how they make money.
By the time you start considering paying for a motivational coach, it’s probably already too late. And even if it’s not, motivational coaching will not solve your underlying business problems