Brand Video Interview – Rick Clemons, The Coming Out Coach | Branding YOU Better!

Brand Video Interview – Rick Clemons, The Coming Out Coach

By Susan October 24, 2011 Blog, Brand-Interviews No Comments

Brand Video Interview – Rick Clemons, The Coming Out Coach

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
The brand is “Rick Clemons” and “The Coming Out Coach” and most people immediately think it’s about gay and lesbian people coming out of the closet, and although that’s part of it, it’s to help anyone come out of the closet and step into their truth. Rick is also working with strong powerful women and feels that gay men and straight women have much to talk about. Some of the brands he has launched are, “Gay Men of Marvel”, “Women of Wonder”, “The Art of Coming Out”, “Mistah to Sistah Coffee Chat” and coming soon is the “Coming Out Lounge” which will launch in a few weeks and create a safe place.

Do you donate and support charities? Tell us about that also and why.
Rick supports and donates to Gay and Lesbian Centers, Human Rights Campaign, Family Equality Council, Operations Safe House. He also donates his time to local teen homes and women’s groups. He has seen the bullying issue come up in his coaching practice but also believes that if people aren’t allowing themselves to come out and be true, then the bullying starts within one’s self. Living in California, he feels that the lifestyle there is more open, but when he sees this issue around in other places, he wishes people would accept one another as they are.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel? Did you design your own identity and web presence?
Rick’s background is in marketing and branding. He was a VP in marketing for the software and hotel industry. His passion is to be creative and so he trained himself in graphic design software through a 30 day bootcamp intensive. He likes simple and clean, chic and hip styling and plays with shapes. He thinks about his audience and wants the identity and messaging to get down to the core.

His last corporate job was developing an online reservation system for the campground RV park and recreation industry. He learned about different CMS (content management systems) and liked Joomla. RickClemons.com is his 20th website using the Joomla CMS platform.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
Rick has always been dabbling in social media and felt it was the perfect lead up to the launch of his business while building the content on the website. He would post on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to get the word out. In the latest rebirth he leveraged social media with consistency.

Print Marketing vs Social Media
So far he has printed business cards, and feels that social media has been the perfect marketing tool for his coaching business by building relationships. When he launched his last business it was tougher, but today he’s able to connect and social media is in full swing. He uses Facebook the most, with Twitter a close second, but LinkedIn, not as much. With his marketing consulting business LinkedIn is better for that, but for the coaching business, Facebook and Twitter are much better. He does now realize that because part of his coaching is working with powerful women, he may revisit LinkedIn because of the groups section there.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
Rick has always been a life long learner. As he mentioned before he self-taught himself Joomla. He loves taking classes because even though he knows quite a bit, he feels sometimes we need a breath of fresh air, or we need to get out of our own way.

Do you advertise offline in print or online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
Rick does not currently advertise in newspapers or magazines but has tried online ads. He feels that advertising can be effective but it will always depend on the copy, imagery and offer. It also matters whether you are selling a product or offering a service and that the ad messaging and imaging be right.

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Many people still hire Rick for design and marketing services and because he is a heart-centered man, green technology is important to him and he will always recommend it to his clients. He educates his clients that even if it’s going to cost a bit more, it’s important the impact they can make on helping the planet. A business owner must be in alignment, making sure that if they are running a “green” business, that there print marketing matches. Businesses don’t want to be caught not practicing what they preach.

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
The list never ends!
He wants to explore having his own TV and Radio channels. He was a speaker at WooHoo Weekend in Los Angeles on October 15, 2011 and wants to grow and be comfortable as a speaker, taking the steps of growth until he’s ready. Go, Rick, Go!