‘Live Aloha’ For Success
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Paul Leo Klink, chairman
emeritus of Aloha Direct,
finishes the 2006 Honolulu
Marathon after losing
172 pounds
Born and raised in upstate New York, fed up with all the snow and ice, I followed the sun to Hawaii in 1985, and have happily made this my home ever since.
I know this is a business piece, but it would not be complete without providing some of my personal background, as that has everything to do with how and why I do business. My grandfather and father, and the generations of men in my family before them, have not lived past the age of 40. I am now 41, but have had to fight every step of the way to live and blow the candles off every birthday cake since the age of 19. I have a hereditary heart problem called arterial sclerosis. I died in a hospital bed twice, for an extended period of time. I have undergone operations too numerous to count, traveled the world in search of alternative therapies, and have learned how precious each moment is. From a high of 352 pounds and once wheelchair-bound for two years because of my health issues, I have now lost 172 pounds by way of a healthy diet and regular exercise. I am proud to say I ran the Honolulu Marathon last year!
I am not sharing this to be pitied, nor do I even look upon my health problems as a curse. In fact, my situation has provided me with the impetus to live life more fully and be the best that I can be. I live aloha each and every day - in work and play. Even my business name reflects this.
Currently, as chairman emeritus of Aloha Direct, a full-service direct response advertising and marketing service organization, a division of Klink, Inc. Worldwide, I provide the most sophisticated electronic marketing, video infotainment and database services available.
Direct marketing television, mail, space, promotions, tele-marketing, event sponsorship and electronic media are different from general advertising because they strive toward different objectives that are more difficult to achieve.
In traditional, general advertising, the typical goals are to: Educate, Inform, Create Awareness, Create an Image, Generate Interest, Position the Product or Service.
In direct marketing, we achieve these and take the process three steps further.
We: 1) Move your prospect to action. With direct marketing, your prospect is expected to do something; take some action toward the buying process.
2) Actually make the sale. Direct marketing programs either make the sale or generate qualified leads for products or services.
3) Measure the results of your efforts and investment.
Aloha Direct does things differently to actually make a difference. Clients can identify their prospects at a unique level of sophistication.
We can provide demographic, psychographic and geographic information from the most complete residential and business database in Hawaii, and the United States. Updated monthly, our proprietary system includes every deliverable mailing address in the U. S. It can tell you on a household-by-household basis: family size, resident ages, income, presence of children, education, home ownership, length of residence and an amazing amount of other information. This data is actual. It is not merely projected (or modeled) from small samples, so its accuracy is extraordinary.
The focus of this data can be pulled even tighter by an unparalleled system of ethnic encoding. Most software is confused by unique circumstance of multiple ethnicities mixing through many generations. Our proprietary ethnic encoding technology, under constant refinement since 1985, draws on vast libraries of both first and last names, then uses phonetics in imaginative ways.
The benefit is bulls-eye targeting of residents. The exactness is so pinpointed, we can even identify prospects by name, and by “propensity to purchase specific services and merchandise.”
When targeting businesses we have even more individualized data to work from. Once targeted, we can help execute mass media campaigns with greater efficiency and direct marketing programs with exceptional results.
There is a current marketing trend toward reduced reliance on mass media as more highly-targeted vehicles become available. The best scenario is still a combination of the two.
Mass media produces prospects. Direct marketing produces buyers.
My advice for success? Work with aloha, which means treat your clients, colleagues and staff with respect, do the best job for them, and nurture your loved ones and yourself, too. You never know if today will be your last. Speaking of aloha, in addition to my regular job I am the distributor of the popular “Live Aloha” bumper-stickers. Visit http://www.livealoha.org for a free sticker. Aloha!
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