The Z-axis Brand Story
In the beginning
Your name, your business
Your name, your business
When I opened the doors on my practice I had been doing a lot of work on explaining marketing in 3-D terms.
The name Z-axis Marketing seemed like a good idea for a consultant brand at the time.
Your name, your business
Your name, your business
Your name, your business
No one could remember the name. No one could spell it. Don't even think about typing the URL!
I learned that for successful independent professionals their name and business name become inextricably entwined in their brand and their marketing.
Networking is key
Your name, your business
Speaking helped build my business
I quickly learned that every business starts by networking your way to prospects. Every business. So I started looking for ways to build my consultant brand by getting in front of more people which led me to join a group of people that would become the Portland Chapter of the National Speakers Association
Speaking helped build my business
Speaking helped build my business
Speaking helped build my business
I began speaking around the Portland Metro to expand my prospect base, generate awareness and add a revenue stream to my business.
I learned that speaking like any other business requires a Brand and ongoing marketing.
A speaking Brand
Speaking helped build my business
Name and topic are connected
So I studied everything I could about networking, expanded my marketing area to the USA and found myself booked in Europe, North and South America. My consulting business continued but I found myself once again coming to understand that your name and expertise are connected in your brand.
Name and topic are connected
Speaking helped build my business
Name and topic are connected
Along the way I've developed expertise in Contact Relationship Management (CRM) as well as on-line marketing to go with my knowledge of Brand, advertising and promotion acquired in New York, Minneapolis, the Far East and in Portland where I was CEO of the largest B2B ad agency.
Trust is the most important ingredient
Z-axis Marketing and Trust
The Brand Poobah, Jerry Fletcher, founded Z-axis when he left his position as CEO of a successful Portland, Oregon business-to-business advertising agency.
Jerry helps clients craft and implement unique Trust-based brand development.
He has brought his strategic assistance and proven processes to Positioning, Naming, Branding and Business Development to all sizes of companies from garage-based high-tech start-ups (Digimarc, which he named) to international Fortune 500 Companies (ADC Kentrox).
Trust is the foundation for any independent professional's business.
The Z-axis name sums up his observations about winners. It comes from a youth misspent in pool halls and reading science fiction to learn how to see all the angles as well as 30 years as a corporate marketing hand. Some businesses just seem to be effortlessly successful while others always have something come out of the blue that bites them in the butt. Every business is evaluated in terms of time (the x-axis) and money (the y-axis). But the reason they succeed or fail is Trust (the z-axis).
Jerry is an expert at consultant brand development who has:
crafted unique, trust-based brands for 137 Independent professionals at last count.
Tripled a Management consultants revenues in one year.
Shown a subscription software business how to generate business by speaking which led to a sale of the company north of $7 Million.
Raised over $500,000 in funding for a start up (Digimarc) in just 17 days
Increased Q1 sales of a consulting firm by $1.2 Million with a single suggestion
Increased a software company's sales by 400% in 18 months by tweaking their CRM system
Stopped counting successful new product intros he has helped with at 207
This rainmaker is an old hand at both traditional and internet marketing with an in-depth understanding of what works and what doesn't. He combines his skills at "Automagic" Marketing staying within client comfort zones while saving you money with integrated approaches that you can manage.
Lessons Learned
"A wise man
knows everything.
A shrewd man
knows everyone.
But what really matters is
who trusts you "
Jerry Fletcher