Published February 2002

New columnist offers his marketing expertise

We’re glad to welcome an exciting new columnist to The Herald Business Journal this month: Andrew Ballard.

We receive many requests from excellent columnists, nationally and regionally, who want to be published in our pages, but our preference is for excellent Snohomish County columnists. A Lynnwood resident, Ballard fits our criteria for being both local and excellent.

To us, excellence as a columnist means enticing writing, useful content and professional credentials. We think you’ll find his insight and advice on marketing, sales and branding to be worthwhile reading.

Ballard is President of Marketing Solutions Inc. in Edmonds, a business that develops brand leadership strategies for small businesses. He also teaches a Strategic Marketing workshop for the Small Business Development Center at Edmonds Community College.

Once the marketing director for Prime Time Broadcasting in Everett, handling advertising, promotion and sales training for three radio stations, Ballard moved in 1993 to become the National Sales Manager for KIRO radio for five years before being hired as Executive Director of the March of Dimes in Seattle.

In 1997, he founded Marketing Solutions Inc., consulting on strategic marketing, creative and media services and related topics for high-tech, e-commerce, financial, health-care, entertainment, retail and service industries. Additional skills he marketed included public relations, media planning, project management, writing and teaching.

Innovative in his thinking, he created a “virtual agency” by cultivating a network of specialists to provide a full-service package to clients, built his practice from one to 23 clients with annual net income increases averaging 22 percent a year and established an average client contract-renewal rate of 83 percent.

But those clients weren’t just local. They included several Fortune 500 companies as well as start-up businesses. His work earned him recognition from clients that included the National Football League and Ford Motor Co.

As a Certified Marketing Consultant with an MBA in marketing management, he has trained thousands of CEOs, marketing and sales professionals and has been a prized keynote speaker for meetings of major corporations and associations nationally.

“Andrew’s branding system is the most innovative and effective marketing process I’ve ever incorporated. The results have been tangible and measurable,” according to a testimonial from Pete Talbott, CEO, The Talbott Group, in Redmond.

Ron Battles, Director of EdCC’s Small Business Development Center, said, “Andrew Ballard is a cutting-edge practitioner. He helps companies position themselves to effectively respond to real-world challenges.”

Ballard also writes regularly for business and trade journals in all 50 states. We’re pleased to have him join The Herald Business Journal’s roster of distinguished columnists.

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