1970s - Marketing Director, Thor Metal Products, Inc.

I garnered two industry awards for product advertising as Marketing Director for Thor Metal Products, a manufacturer of wood stoves. It was the first time in the industry that a company used lifestyle advertising and a full color, two page, double truck format to launch a product offering. Previously, the industry confined itself to quarter page black and white, “wanted poster” formats, with a picture of the product and a laundry list of bullet point features. The company went from $2 million in sales to over $9 million in the course of one year. There is no doubt that our advertising had a role in that success.

1980s - Advertising Sales Manager, West Michigan Magazine

Managed a sales staff of six.

Eventually, the entire wood stove industry collapsed and I found myself in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a position as Advertising Sales Manager of West Michigan Magazine, affiliated with the local public television station. When I started, the publication was limping along on about $9K a month in advertising sales. It was not enough to cover publishing expenses and therefore the publication required a subsidy from the television station. I restructured the sales philosophy from “selling editorial” to “selling the subscriber base” and re-trained the sales staff of six in the approach.

In “selling editorial,” if the magazine planned to run a feature on flowers, for example, several sales people would hit all the flower shops in the area and solicit one-time ads for that issue.

My approach was to point out that the publication’s readers were there every month and that a wise business should want to deliver their message to those readers every month. You can never know when a customer whats to buy the solution you're selling! Once properly instructed, the sales force began selling contracts for 4, 6 and 12 ad placements to local businesses. Sales increased from $9K per month to $39K per month, and no longer requiring a subsidy from the broadcast company … mostly because, with extended term contracts in the hopper, the sales people no longer had to go back to the same base and resell advertising placements every month. They could focus on servicing their contract base by helping them come up with new advertising and they had  time to develop new customers they previously didn’t have time to contact.

1980s -VP National Sales and Marketing, Telarc Records

(A classical music and jazz recording company. Telarc has received more than 40 Grammy Awards over the years.)

On the sales side I managed the company’s relationships with 17 independent sales representative companies as well as major national accounts covering the US with an internal staff of five. On the marketing side I was responsible for the company's advertising, promotional efforts, and public relations.

1980s - National Sales and Marketing Manager, Denon Records 

(Japanese import record and CD label.)

On the sales side I managed the company’s relationships with 17 independent sales representative companies as well as major national accounts covering the US with an internal staff of two. On the marketing side I was responsible for the company's advertising, promotional efforts, and public relations.

1990s - Marketing Management Team, Ricoh Corporation

2000s - Marketing Consultant, Ricoh Corporation

Current

I'm currently a member of the board of directors of Berks Sinfonietta in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania where I'm involved in their long term planning, fund raising, marketing and public relations efforts. Why am I advertising for myself? It's simple. I may be  semi-retired, but I like to keep busy.

An addendum

• The single most important and useful series of courses I ever took in my formal education was high school Latin.

• My major in college was cultural anthropology with a minor in political science and a focus on American political extremism.

• When I’m not looking things up in the public domain, I’m a photographer. I have done pro bono work for nonprofit organizations such as the Amerind Foundation. In 2012 and 2015 I was invited by Amerind Foundation to do two one-man shows. As a result some 40+ of my photographs are now part of the permanent collection of the Amerind Foundation and Museum. My fine art print sales through Fine Art America see world wide distribution.

In Summary

How does one summarize a career that spans as many years as mine and which has taken me from a family farm laborer and hospital food cart pusher in high school to VP of Sales and Marketing and then an independent consultant working on contract for a multi-billion dollar multinational company in the high tech industry? 

I’ve won awards for my work and I’ve also made some very foolish decisions. I’ve succeeded where others have failed and failed where others have succeeded. I haven’t seen it all, but I’ve clearly seen a lot. I’ve lived through and, in some cases, helped engineer spectacular company growth and I’ve survived corporate mergers and company bankruptcies. I've learned a lot along the way.

In Other's Words

I recently mentioned to Joe that I consider his OPI report, a "Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious" ....basically a "must read" for Ricoh Americas personnel. From his postings, Ricoh Americas employees, can gain insight to an economic universe that is far beyond the 5 mile wide radius of the Caldwells. 

Ed Carroll

Account Solutions Analyst Team Lead 

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A.