“The decision was an easy one. In the corporate space, my income was limited. As a business owner, my income is only limited to my imagination and ability to create value. “

David Bullock is a successful, results driven sales person and business development strategist. He has used webinars, email, list building, SEO, PPC, video and book authorship to position himself and his clients for additional revenues. David is a degreed mechanical engineer that moved to project management and then to international sales. After working for Dupont, Exxon Mobil and a robotics company, he left corporate america to experience life as a consultant and business owner.

David has been an internet marketing instructor and was the technical editor for the “Google AdWords for Dummies” book. Currently, David is the CEO for CEO Mastery, Inc an executive training, coaching and business development firm. David has also been named one of the most influential people in Social Media in 2008 and was presented the Presidential Citation Award University of Delaware 2009.

MO:
You have called yourself a Profit Engineer. We love this term. Can you explain to our readers what this means exactly?

David:
The term profitengineer means that as a business owner your primary objective is to manufacture customers and clients. Manufacturing is a very specific process that is understood, documented and repeatable. Creating sustainable profit is a very  measurable exact science. And, as a business owner, it is your responsibility to ferret out and develop those “engineered” processes. Because I am an engineer who has worked in sales, marketing and business development, this term profitengineer just made sense.

MO:
Some people look at digital and print marketing as two separate and mutually exclusive approaches. Can you explain how you make all forms work together with yourself and your clients?

David:
Both the online and offline media channels are containers for messages. Whether it is online or offline, text, audio and images (whether moving or still) are still the only  modalities available to any communicator. Typically, the effectiveness of the message has to do with where the client or prospect is looking for information.

For example, if we start with a simple video, that video can be “ripped” into an audio file and then transcribed into text which can become a printable book or report that can be shared offline. That same content can be used to connect with the prospect on several different channels both online and offline.

Then, if you dig deeper into channel research, the business owner will find that a channel’s function is to expose content to the audience. Social media is two-way communication and sharing. The Radio is one-way communication unless a listener calls in. A website holds information with which visitor can interact. But it all starts with the content and the message, and then it is a matter of placing the content where it can be found. The idea of “findabilty” is a whole other subject that speaks to SEO and driving traffic. But, the initial step is to create the content and place it somewhere so that it can be exposed to the proper audience.

MO:
Tell us about the jump from leaving corporate life and branching out as a consultant! What caused you to make the change? What was the biggest challenge?

David:
The decision was an easy one. In the corporate space, my income was limited. As a business owner, my income is only limited to my imagination and ability to create value. My decision to leave Corporate America was a quick one and was based on a change in the bonus schedule change that affected my income. Working harder for less money is not the dream situation for an industrial salesperson.

I had been working remotely out of a home office for over 7 years when I made the decision to resign my last position. The transition was not too abrupt. I was fortunate that I did not have to “set up shop” and “go into business”. Furthermore, I did not have to develop and entrepreneur or sales mindset because I was already doing the work of building a territory, finding new clients and servicing old clients.

MO:
We encourage all of our readers to read your book “Barack Obama’s Social Media Lessons For Business”. Why has this been named the blueprint for social media?

David:
We documented what has been called the most successful and largest multimedia/social media campaign of all time. This document outlines, in sequence, the online and offline strategies and tactics used by President Obama campaign to claim the highest office in the land. Further, there is a secondary purpose of the book. The book actually shows the reader how to repurpose content. The book is comprised of 19 blog post, 17 transcribed podcasts, 1 webinar video and 1 transcribed video. The B20 project started as a webinar, moved to a blog and then became a book. Brent Leary, my co-author and I then used the book as an asset to build credibility . So if the reader can see beyond the politics of the book, you can see a very valid business model.

MO:
You have been named one of the 100 most influential people in social media in 2008. Can you give our readers 1 tip for not only being present on social media but actually being influential?

David:
Engage with influential people in your marketplace. Being influential is not about having a huge following on any of the social media channels. To be influential means having the attention of the “right” people in the marketplace so that your business moves forward in the manner that you design. Most people view social media as a volume and consumer channel. This is true if you use it that way. But social media can be used as a connection channel that allows you to connect with those in your marketplace that you can best serve and add value to. I encourage the readers to connect with those who they can be of value to  – whether prospects or peers – and to connect to those that can be of value to them and their business – like vendors or thought leaders in their industry.

MO:
In a profession like consulting where the value of your services depends greatly on your own personal brand, how do you maintain this strong personal brand?

David:
The key to maintaining a brand is to choose your projects and clients carefully. A project that fails or a client that is upset about the results that you produced can cause you problems with credibility, influence, outreach, etc.

I have been fortunate to have had many projects that have been successful with very few failures in my career. Further, up-leveling your profile in the marketplace by doing higher levels of deals can also add to keeping your personal brand fresh.

Get testimonials from successful clients. No one can tell your story like a client that is happy with your work. Post those testimonials and supportive comments on your website so that others can see what you are up to.

To add to all of this, with social media channels available, you can tell your story to the world. You can be your own PR and advertising agency. And finally, get published online and offline. Shoot for the highest level of publication that you can be quoted in or you can write for. Getting published, I believe, is the best form of brand management. Every time you are published, you are borrowing identity and credibility from the publication by association. Case in point, we just got published in Inc Magazine.

http://www.inc.com/articles/201111/are-republicans-bad-at-social-media.html

Not everyone can say that they are have a quote in Inc.

David Bullock

www.DavidBullock.com

www.CEOMastery.com

www.Barack20.com