Public Company Marketing

Matthew'sfirstjobaftercollegewaswiththebrokeragefirmFirstSummitSecurities,Inc.locatedinMontville,NJ.DuringhistenurethereheheldbothSeries62andSeries63brokerlicenseswhiledevelopingtheirinhousecomputersoftwareandwebsites.

Fastforwardto2011whereMatthewhadtheopportunitytoprovideprogrammingandconsultingservicestoanewlypubliccompany.Thedetailsoftheprojectareoutlinedbelow.

CASESTUDY:
Company:AmeriWorksFinancialServices,Inc.
StockSymbol:AWKS

GOAL:
AWKSwantedtheirfirstprojecttobelaunchedcorrectly,andforittosurpassshareholderexpectations.

BACKGROUND:
AWKSputmorethan12monthsofresearchintocreatingawebsiteforpointofsalecashiertrainingandcertification.Thewebsiteiswww.pos-university.comanditusesWordPressandMoodleastheunderlyingtechnologiestopowerthesite.However,bothsystemsarenotoriousfordifficultsetupswhentryingtoaccomplishsomethingunique.DeploymentanddevelopmentofthePOS-Uwebsitetookmorethan6monthssimplytogetWordPressandMoodletoworkwell.

INITIALHIRING:
MatthewmetwiththeAWKSexecutivesinearlyJanuary2011,spendinganentiredayattheirofficesinPennsylvaniatogetanideaoftheoperation,employeesandexecutivegoals.OnthatsamemorninghealsohadoneofhisemployeesinNewJerseysitandvideorecordtheirusageofthecurrentbetaPOS-Uwebsite.

Thedaylongmeetingcoveredtopicsofmobilemarketing,training,AmazoneBooks,advertisingandbranding.ThevideorecordingwassentoverandMatthewsatwiththetopexecutiveandwatchedtherecordingandtogetherwasabletoidentifyareasofthetechnologythatstillneededwork.

INITIALFINDINGS:
Inordertogainrecognitionwithjobseekersandsupermarketownersthisnewservicewouldhavetogettheirattention.Marketresearchatthetimeidentifiedthatnoothercompanywasprovidingacertificationprogramforcashiertraining.However,Matthew'sfindingsalsoseemedtoindicatethatnoonewassearchingonlineforthattypeoftrainingeither.Although,afterinterviewingseveralrandompeopleitwasdiscoveredthatitseemslikethereisalevelofdissatisfactionwithgrocerystorecashiers,butitalsoseemslikethereisageneralassumptionthatnothingcanbedoneabouttheproblem.

InorderforthePOS-Uprogramtobeeffectiveitwouldhavetobeintroducedatthesametimeinalldigitalformatsandmadeavailablethroughthewidestpossibledistributionnetworks.

PROJECTSTRATEGY:

3Newwebsitesformarketingandadditionaleducation
1Twitteraccount
1FacebookBusinessPage
EZineArticles
AmazonKindleeBook
DownloadableandprintablePDFbook
MobilewebsitewithsimilarfunctionalityofthePOS-Usite
YouTubeChannel
Multiplepressreleases

PROJECTIMPLEMENTATION:
Matthewwasgivenfullcreativefreedomofprojectimplementation.Thisallowedhimtousethecontentmanagementsystemheprogrammedandusesforallhisothercustomers.

LiaisonwithWebProgrammers
MatthewimmediatelytookoverthejobofliaisonbetweenAWKSandtheirwebprogrammingcompany.Thishelpedgreatlysincehewasabletospeakbothprogramminggeekaswellasentrepreneurialbusiness.SeveralargumentsbetweenAWKSandtheprogrammersweremanagedandMatthewhelpthemunderstandeachotherspointsofviewsandneeds.MatthewalsosteppedinandtookcareofseverallastminutecreditcardprocessingsetupissuesonthePOS-Uwebsite.

Website#1isCashierTraining.biz
ThiswebsitewasdesignedasamarketingpieceforAWKS.Theycouldusethiswebsitetohelpselltheservicetosupermarketsandcashierjobseekers.Featuresofthiswebsiteinclude:
•Downloadablesampleofthecourse
•Paymentanddownloadofa70pageeBook
•Amembershipsystemtomanagestudents
•Amobilewebsiteforstudentswhowanttostudythecoursematerialontheircellphones
•Lotsofdifferentdirectionsforeachofthe4versionsofthecourse

Website#2isCashierJobs.us
Thiswebsiteisasimplebloggingwebsitedesignedtobecomeanexusforadditionalcashierrelatedinformation.AWKSwilldisseminateothervaluableresourceslikehowtowritearesumeforcashiers.Matthewsetupthesamecontentmanagementsystemonthissiteascashiertraining.biz.

Website#3isCashierDuties.info
ThiswebsiteissetupthroughTumblr.comusingadomainnamealias.Thisisanotherbloggingwebsite,perhapsalittlemorerougharoundtheedgesinhowitwillbepresented.UsingtheTumblrmobiletechnologyphotosandcommentscanbepostedtothisblogwhileoutintherealworld.

YouTubeChannelisyoutube.com/howtocashier
ThiswastheonlypartoftheprojectthatMatthewbroughthisemployeesinon.Usingalocalretailstore,dramatizationsofahorrificcashierwereplayedoutandrecordedfromasecuritycamerapointofview.

FacebookandTwitter
ThesewillbecontinuallyusedtocreatetrafficandbuildgeneralawarenesstothePOSUniversityandCashierCertificationconcept.

EZineArticles
AfewofthelessonswillbereformattedandpublishedthroughEZineArticlesforanaddedlinkbuildingandawarenesscampaign.

DownloadablePDFeBook
Matthewtooktheentirebodyofcoursematerialandfinalizedtheeditingprocess,restructuringthelessonsasneeded.Fromafirsttimeuserperspectiveitwaseasytoidentifytrainingmaterialthatwasoutoforderafter12monthsofrewrites.Theentirecoursewasformattedintoa70pagePDFbook.

AmazonKindleeBook
AftercreatingthedownloadableeBookMatthewthentookthesamematerialandcreated,andpublished,anAmazonKindleeBook.NewaccountsweresetupwithownershiprightsgoingtoAWKS,howevertheofficialpublishercreditsofthebookgotoMatthew'scompanyname.

PressRelease
AWKSprovidedaroughdraftpressreleaseforlaunch.Butitneededspunk,pizazzandtogenerateactualinterest,ratherthanputsomeonetosleep.Afterworkingfor30daysontheprojectMatthewfullyunderstoodwhythecoursewasimportantandwhatwouldmakeotherpeoplefeelthesameway.MatthewprovidedhisownsetofpressreleasesthatAWKSusedinsteadoftheirown.

FINALOUTCOME:
TheprojectlaunchedtothepubliconFebruary23,2011.Theoutcomeisunknownatthetimeofthiscasestudyreview.Theinitialversionofthetrainingprogramhasbeentestedwithmanypeople,andtheneedisapparent.Alltheinternetmarketingtoolsareinplace.MatthewhelpedsystematizethesignupandstudentmanagementprocessandalsorevampedthepricingschemetoaccountfortechnologyvariablethatAWKSwasnotawareof.AWKSisnowpoisedtogenerateaprofitwiththisventureifadvertisedcorrectly.Intheendthestockholderswillhavetowaitforthequarterlyreportstoshowtheimpact.InthemeantimeyoucanwatchthestockbylookingupthesymbolAWKS.

ContactMatthewPerosiifyouwouldlikeassistanceinyourowninternetomobilemarketing.