Frank Felker is an author, educator and lifelong entrepreneur who has been helping business owners better understand and profit from their firms for nearly thirty years. He has presented before thousands of business owners and salespeople across the country, in South America and Europe at venues including the Kennedy Center and the headquarters of Texas Instruments and America Online.
One reason Frank's messages are so well received by business owners is that he has stood in their shoes. Starting at age 14, he worked in his family's printing business part-time throughout high school and college. He returned to run the shop for fourteen years after receiving his Bachelor Science in Economics and earning honors in competitive public speaking (Fifth in Nation in Impromptu Speaking) and as a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International Economics Honor Society.
Over the course of 23 years, until the print shop was sold in 1997, Frank worked with hundreds of businesses of all sizes, helping them articulate their marketing messages, creating the graphics and copy of their marketing collateral and direct mail, and helping them strategize and maximize the effectiveness of their promotions.
Always an innovator, Frank first engaged in online commerce in 1987 (pre-Internet) when he persuaded a local newsletter publisher to send his print files to Frank's shop by modem. His company's first web site, The Online Print Shop launched in 1994, was years ahead of its time.
Due to Frank's expertise in online file transmission and digital printing technology he was chosen by Print Image International to be the first chairman of the Digital Imaging Applications Network. At the same time he was writing 2,000-word monthly column called Digital Imaging Workshop for a 45,000-circulation trade publication and publishing his own newsletter, Digital Printing Trends. His profile within the industry also led him to be hired as a presenter across the United States as well as in Europe and South America where he has given scores of seminars to thousands of attendees.
At the time of the dot com boom in the late 1990s, Frank's international reputation attracted the attention of investment bankers, leading him to write the business plan for and found DocumentPlanet.com, an online print industry "intelligent intermediary," which raised $3.1 million in early round and institutional capital before imploding along with thousands of other firms during the dot com meltdown.
Finding himself with a six-figure lifestyle to support, a mortgage to pay and children to feed but no income coming in, Frank scrambled to find a way to quickly replace his previous income level in a difficult economy where both the printing and dot com industries were disintegrating. His discovery of Sales as a viable career alternative and the success he found as an salesman for a home improvement company were the basis of his first book, The Greatest Job You Never Thought Of, How Anyone Can Find Financial Independence and Career Satisfaction in Sales.
After only one year Frank left his lucrative sales job to take a position as an executive in the then-booming real estate industry. As part of that position, he created, produced and co-hosted 83 episodes of a live call-in real estate radio show on Washington, DC stations WJFK and WMAL. That show was WMAL's highest-rated hour-long weekend program in only its second Arbitron ratings book.
When the real estate industry also hit the wall in 2007, Frank was back out looking for work as a top-producing salesperson. Subsequently Frank interviewed with, worked for and consulted to a wide variety of sales organizations as a front-line salesperson. This experience is the basis for his subsequent books on the sales profession.
Combined with his previous experience hiring, training, managing and motivating salespeople from the other side of the table, his breadth and depth of experience is invaluable for salespeople and managers alike.
Today Frank is President of The Customer Factory, a digital marketing agency based in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. The Customer Factory provides Local, Social, Mobile and Video marketing services and education to business owners throughout the Washington, DC area.
Whatever the topic; entrepreneurship, sales, marketing or digital technology - and not matter the medium; print, audio, video, radio, live workshops or online webinars, Frank always brings a unique perspective, a depth of knowledge and an easy conversational style to his messages.
Here are some thoughts from producers and attendees of Frank's live seminars and workshops across the country:
Frank, your presentation and meetings with us here last Thursday, 20 February were a huge success judging from all the enthusiastic feedback I've received. Besides the positive feedback on your presentation, it has been suggested that we employ you further in a consulting role, primarily to give feedback on our product direction. Again, thanks for the excellent work. And please feel free to use myself and Texas Instruments as a reference with prospective clients.
Texas Instruments, Dallas Texas
Jim Engiles, Marketing Manager
You are always one of our top speakers and I look forward to having you return again.
MultiCom Conference, Washington, DC
Geoff Lindsay, Show Manager
I would have to say your speech made a big impact. You did a remarkable job. I feel that what you had to say was very timely, informative and was enjoyed by all. We all hope you enjoyed your visit here with us at Northwest Forest and we look forward to continuing our relationship and the opportunity to work with you again in the future.
International Center for Entrepreneurial Development, Houston, Texas
Hal B. Collins, Executive Vice President
You did a fantastic job. Not only was the content on target and the handouts true visual aids, but you also brought it in on time! Very professional. I hope you enjoyed your first telephone seminar experience. From a listener's standpoint, you couldn't tell at all that you'd never presented in this format - you sounded enthusiastic and involved throughout.
Printing Industries of America, Alexandria, Virginia
Shelley Goulding, Sections Manager
Very good and thorough.
Carmen Scott, GEICO Marketing
All 5s (on a scale of 1-5) Excellent!
Valerie Van Woles, World Bank
Glad that Frank Felker did this seminar instead of John Doe. (I previously attended) a seminar by John Doe and, in retrospect, John's teaching
style is not as strong and (he) is not as knowledgeable as Frank."
Barbara Plattner, American Red Cross
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