Small Business Marketing Consultant and Branding Specialist

Business iNK
January, 2000

Show me the Money

At age 44, Kevin M. Clark quits his old job and takes a 'walk on the wild side.' Now - with his new marketing company, Clark Marketing Group, Inc. - Clark is challenging businesses to do the same.

BY SALLY MILLER
Business iNK staff writer

While the rest of the business world is just learning to "look outside the box" for "the money", Freeport marketing expert Kevin M. Clark is saying "Get rid of the box and I'lI show you the money."

Clark, 44, is the President of Clark Marketing Group, Inc., a new consulting business that will launch operations Jan. 1. Clark plans to take business owners by the hand and challenge them to discard the safe and traditional business strategies and take a walk on the wild side that is filled with explosive profit potential.

"A lot of business owners do what other people in the same business do. There's nothing wrong with that, if you want to maintain," said Clark. "What I do is help businesses grow by introducing them to individualized and proven marketing strategies from different industries."

How certain is he that his approach will help businesses grow?

"I know it works so well," he said. "I literally guarantee it."

Guarantee? Yep, guaranteed. Now how's that for showing you the money? In fact, here's the promise he makes to prospective clients:

"I do this by using a unique combination of marketing strategies and techniques that are virtually guaranteed to increase your number of customers or clients, get them to buy from you more often, while increasing the size of their purchase transaction. Or the work is on me. Totally risk free."

Pretty risky for Clark, some might say. Especially for a new business. But then again, he isn't exactly a rookie in the game of business. In 1993, he was named Entrepreneur Of The Year - a national award bestowed upon entrepreneurs by NASDAQ-AMEX Stock Exchange and CNN, to name a few sponsors. He now serves as a judge for the event. You could say he's a player in the big leagues.

For the past 15 years, he's been part of a management team that has taken Asche Transportation Services, Inc., to a whole new stratosphere in the business world.

When he joined Asche in 1984, it was a small trucking company with revenues of less than $1 million. In 1987, he became a partner and principal shareholder, together with Larry and Diane Asche. In 1994, he took the company through a successful initial public offering.

And by 1998, it was a pubicly traded carrier operating multiple subsidiaries with revenues in excess of $113 million. As of Dec. 31, his contract ends at Asche. He announced in early December that he would not be renewing his contract. He was leaving and going into private practice.

Why leave a good thing that is getting better every year?

In a sense, his work at Asche is done. He'd done what he came l do: Help Asche grow into a major business.

"It was a very rewarding experience," he said, of his time at Asche. In fact, he will maintain a significant stock position in Asche, and will remain on the Board of Directors.

But the major reason is simple: He likes a challenge - especially the challenge of helping businesses grow where no growth was thought possible.

And that's where Clark Marketing Group comes in.

"I gain a great deal by helping entrepreneurs build and grow their companies," he said. "It's very rewarding for me. And it's fun."

Fun? Okay, he isn't doing this only for kicks and giggles. Quite frankly, he's in it for the money. 

"After 20 years in business, I'm not in it for the experience anymore," he said. "I'm in it to make a profit."

And one of the ways he plans to make a profit is to reduce his expenses.

"I don't have an office," he said. He works from an office in his home.

"I love the freedom of working at home," he said. It lets him spend more time with his family, he said. And it reduces overhead.

"If business demands it," he said. "I'll get an office. But right now, I'm working at home."

That's a nice change from his early days at Asche, he says. When he joined Asche in 1984, he was living in the 'burbs of Chicago. After a few years of driving back and forth from Chicago to Asche's offices in Stockton, he and his wife Debra decided to move the whole family to Freeport in 1992.

"It was getting to be a long drive," he said.

And making the most of valuable resources - especially time - is something Clark advocates strongly.

In fact, it's one of the first fings he tells prospective clients: Make the most of what you've already got.

For example, he's appalled at learning that 90 percent of all business websites are not generting profits.

"That's amazing to me," he said, shaking his head. He plans to help businesses take advantage of E-commerce, he said.

That's just one way he plans to help businesses grow.

"What I do is help them uncover their hidden marketing assets and turn them into dramatically increased sales and profability," he said.

"There are three ways - and only three ways - to grow your business or professional practice," said Clark. "All marketing strategies fall under the heading of one of these three principals."

"First one is to increase your number of customers or clients - which is what most business owners do. What many fail to understand is that this one is really the most difficult and costly way to expand sales and profits," said Clark.

"Second, you increase your average transaction value," he said. "This means you increase the amount of the sale or the amount of the profit that each sale produces for you."

"Third, you increase your frequency of purchase," he said. "A common mistake most companies make is they don't realize the cost of getting a new customer is much higher than the cost of getting a current customer to buy more."

Clark said that while there are a multitude of marketing strategies out there, knowing which ones to implement is important. That's where his experience comes in.

"The success of each strategy depends on the business and the level of commitment from the business owner," he said. That's one reason he is a bit selective when taking on clients.

"I offer a money-back guarantee," he explained. "If a client isn't going to do what we agree upon, then it won't work. So I have to pick my customers somewhat carefully."

His aggressive work at Asche, plus the public speaking stints and motivational books and tapes he's authored, has made his name somewhat recognizable in the business world. It's a safe bet his return to private practice hasn't gone unnoticed.

He's got several national clients, but he plans to look for some local businesses as well. He says he can't think of a single business that can't benefit from his unique approach to business.

So, what does Clark say is the biggest mistake business make in trying to grow themselves?

"Not having a marketing or business plan that is clearly spelled out and followed," he said.

"Look at it like this: if you set out from California to New York and didn't have a map, you'd end up in Texas. You'd get detoured and go off on the wrong roads and never get where you want to be."

"The same analogy applies to business," he said. "You need a good strategic marketing plan to help guide you to your desired outcome."

"Marketing plans are under-utilitized," he said. "So many people don't do it. They let their businesses go in whichever direction the wind blows them. They let their competition or customers dictate their actions."

That's one reason marketing companies are so important, he said.

"We provide outside perspective."

He's seen that first hand, he says.

"I sit on the board of directors for DePaul University, and there's a wide variety of businessmen on the board with me. We each bring different education and experience to the table."

"The most successful business owners have teams of advisors they consult with," he said. "There's a reason for that: It works."

Clark can be reached at 297-1297, or his website-in-the-works - "www.GetProfitable.com".