About

One of management’s most important responsibilities is proper stewardship of company assets. This requires leaders to look behind the dollars on the corporate financial statements to determine how those numbers got there and what needs to be done to grow them.

 

The very best leaders recognize that employees, customer-vendors and brand form the true asset base for any company. And the most effective way to improve the financial strength of an organization is to integrate the people and strategic plans for these three areas.

 

Asset-Based Marketing is dedicated to helping companies understand this principle, and to providing practical advice and counsel on how to implement asset-based business and marketing planning within profit and not-for-profit companies.

Lineage

  • Keith Raniere & Nancy Saltzman (Founders of the Executive Success Program)
  • Michael E. Gerber (Author of the The E-Myth)
  • All Shareholders, Officers, Employees & Clients (Porter & Associates, Homesteaders Life Company)
  • Tom Porter

I like the sensei martial arts tradition of paying homage to those who came before them.  For example, if you were looking for a Sensei (martial arts instructor) on the Internet the opening paragraph on the “About Sensei” page would first feature the lineage.  It is formal recognition of the fact that the skills and knowledge accumulated by the Sensei were not created by him, nor were they derived from his immediate instructor … but from all those instructors in their lineage.  Out of respect and gratitude, the Sensei will provide a brief biography of each instructor, and finally he will place his name and biography at the very end of the list.

I cannot take credit for creating Asset-Based Marketing’s integrative business planning process because it is the result of my interactions and studies with all of the individuals listed, above.  I am grateful for the knowledge they passed along to me and I hope that the modifications that I have made to their body of work will somehow enhance the results experienced by my clients.

Background

Tom Porter, Principal – Asset-Based Marketing

As Founder, President & CEO of Porter & Associates (1981 – 2004), one of the Midwest’s most respected advertising agencies, I had the opportunity to create and implement organizational and marketing strategies not only for my company but for hundreds of our clients. We worked with local, regional and national clients including John Deere, Brunswick, Meredith Corporation, U.S. Senior Golf Open and Disney. Looking back, the seeds for Asset-Based Marketing began to form back then in my attempts to improve individual and group performance within my agency. I was introduced to Keith Raniere and Nancy Saltzman, Founders of the Executive Success Program in 2001 and immediately began to incorporate their philosophies and methodologies for achieving success and transformation into my marketing recommendations, business plans, as well as my personal life I read Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth in 2002 and became a member of his Mastery Program, where I learned to appreciate the role of systems, processes and standards in achieving corporate goals and objectives. And most recently, after selling Porter & Associates I went to work for Homesteaders Life Company as Vice President of Marketing, where I was provided with the extraordinary and invaluable opportunity of experiencing corporate life as an employee … not the owner. These people and experiences significantly influenced my view of the business world as I formed the philosophies and the foundation of Asset-Based Marketing. . . I thank all of them for their contribution.