Andrew Dorko, Jr. owns and serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Total Marketing Concepts, Inc., also known as TMC. Andrew founded Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. in 2004, after gaining years of experience in the world of Marketing, Direct Sales, Communications, and Telecommunications. Andrew takes pride in surrounding himself with talented and loyal employees, dedicated to providing a quality product for TMC clients.
Total Marketing Concepts, Inc., offers strategic marketing solutions across a large variety of vertical markets. Unlike other telecommunication and marketing companies, Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. invests for the long term in employees; in return, employees find long term value in the job, and handle responsibilities accordingly. Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. heavily investments in detailed professional training for staff, distinguishing the company from competitors in the level of support and other intangibles. Attention to detail permits Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. to provide clients with the best support with business development.
Andrew Dorko, Jr.’s team at Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. maintain a wide range of skill sets, including B2B, direct sales, collegiate placement, energy deregulation, and the seasonal necessity for political surveying. They also work with Verizon Wireless, and Verizon FIOS, helping the massive communications company with their sales and retention. Other clients of theirs, as listed on their website, include AT&T, Spark Energy, and DMI Partners just to name a few. Whether it is inbound, outbound, or direct marketing, Dorko and his team seem to do it all.
INC Magazine selected Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. as one of the “Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in America.” Since inception, Total Marketing Concepts, Inc. has helped companies ranging from Fortune 500 to simple start-ups, increase sales, as well as come up with strategic concepts for future company growth.
How did you get started in this business? What inspired you to start this business?
Many years working for the Yellow Pages instilled foundational business concepts impacting business decisions throughout my career, including today. The Yellow Pages, and subsequent employers, provided substantial experience and familiarity with direct sales and customer service.
Other marketing and telecommunication companies in this space focus on one specific area of marketing as opposed to opening themselves up to focus and master other types of areas as well.
I always intended TMC to service many different needs of clients, kind of like a one stop shop for all things marketing, call center related, strategic conceptualization and implementation.
How do you make money?
We provide our clients the absolute best possible service and strategic partnership available. Our work speaks for itself. We are a performance driven firm and the better we do by our clients, the better for everyone.
How long did it take for you to become profitable?
Considering the company was started more than a decade ago, I have to admit I haven’t thought of those metrics in a while. What I do remember is that we grew pretty quickly and our profit margins showed up sooner than we expected them to.
When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?
I think one of the things I was always curious about was how we would be able to match all of these verticals together under one cohesive umbrella, so to speak. I have always conducted business under the mantra that your company is only as good as the talent you surround yourself with, and early on it was pretty obvious that the team we put together had the professionalism and experience to make TMC a great company.
How did you get your first customer?
We are a sales and marketing company at heart, so could you guess it was through sales and marketing? As I said before, early on we put the right people in place, and through preparing ourselves to sell a reason why anyone should work with us, we were able to bring aboard our first client.
What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?
Are verticals have a wide range, but can be specific as well. Outbound marketing is something that works well in order to generate new business (other than referrals as previously mentioned).
I have a sales team that focuses on that who bring new clients onboard each month. Having such a stable and unique business model in place makes it easy to see why working with us would benefit you, doesn’t matter if you are a huge company or a start-up.
What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
Handling the growth of the company offers the greatest challenge during this period. Without having financial partners, funding during growth periods rests squarely upon my shoulders.
Separately, over the past few months, we encountered a number of tough decisions involving the expansion into the company’s new 25,000 square foot facility in central Florida.
What do you think it is that makes you successful?
That is an interesting question, and I hope I don’t sound incredibly cliché when answering it. Many things go into achieving success in any business. Surrounding myself with the best possible team and talent appears high on the list.
Having the proper team in place, offers an advantage in dealing with complex issues and directly translates to the success of the company moving forward.
Personally, however, my passion for helping people fuels opportunity and results in success. Someone once told me, that if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life.
I know it doesn’t sound necessarily sexy, but people able to offer better solutions to small and large businesses is gratifying to the point where it drives me every single day to be the best I possibly can.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
I probably touched on this concept a little in my previous answer, but the first time TMC profoundly helped a client.
When you start up with your new business, it usually starts with a lot of little wins here and there.
But the first time we made a major impact on a company’s situation would have been one of my most satisfying moments in business.
What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?
The future holds endless possibilities, as far as I see it. The team and I are always looking for new ways to service our clients, as well as continuing to perform at our peak 24/7.
Are you willing to be a mentor? If so, how would you like to be contacted?
I just launched a new website, andrewdorko.com, which actually has a lot of mentor type posts on it already!
However if you are looking for more in the ways of mentoring, you can contact me via the website!
You mention that you have experience working with start-ups. Any good advice you would like to share with other start-up companies out there?
Of course! I feel like there are thousands of tips I could give out, but there are two I keep coming back to.
First off, so many start-up companies think that their idea is really great without asking themselves the purpose they are serving in the target market, and if it is scalable. I see a lot of start-ups coming up with a cool idea, but only they can really benefit from it and it doesn’t translate to a larger audience.
So make sure you are solving a real problem within the market you are targeting.
Secondly, make sure you are 100% passionate about your start-up or idea. There are going to be so many times that you encounter road blocks, and unless you are so enthralled with your company that you would go to the moon and back for it, you will get discouraged easily and feel like quitting.