Hi, I'm Chris Kent
Thanks for visiting my site and checking me out. I'm guessing you have a few questions you'd like answered, such as:
- Who am I?
- What do I do?
- How did I get here?
- What makes me different? And most importantly,
- What can I do for you ?
If so, you're in the right place because that's precisely the purpose of this page 
Now, where shall I start...
Chris Kent MSc
CEO & Founder of The 21st Century Marketing Academy
I'm on a Mission...
Let me start by sharing my mission: "To Increase Small Business Success Rates"
Why is that important to me?
Because far too many start-ups and small businesses fail for one simple reason – they don’t know how to market themselves properly.
This means they don’t get enough sales, and the root cause of poor of sales is ineffective (or non-existent) marketing.
If you don’t get your message ‘out there’ no one is going to bang on your door and demand to buy whatever it is you have to offer.
The basis of your brand
In my book “21st Century Marketing: What it is, Why it matters, and How to do it” I talk about mission and vision statements, and core values as these form the basis of your brand. After all, that’s what differentiates you from your competition – and what people remember you for.
On page 142 I say that your mission statement should be made up of three parts: It should explain
- Why you exist (the purpose of your business)
- How your business contributes to making the world a better place, and
- The evidence you will look for, that demonstrates you are achieving your mission.
I’m a big fan of ‘walking the talk’ so here’s my answers to those questions:
Q: Why did I write this book and found The 21st Century Marketing Academy?
A: To help coaches, consultants and small business owners master their message and learn how to make their marketing work for them.
Q: How do i make the world a better place?
A: By helping small business owners master their message and help them make their marketing work for them, we’ll contribute to increasing the small business success rates. And that’s a good thing because business failures destroy lives – and no one wants to become another sad government statistic!
Small business start-up failure rates are alarmingly high – depending on which source you believe; they are quotes as being anywhere between 50-90%! More on this later – but, on average, more businesses fail than succeed.
Research shows one of the main factors is lack of marketing skills and as it’s usually the small business owner that plays the role of ‘marketing manager’ who lacks these essential skills.
My mission is to fix that problem and give you the modern marketing skills you really need to succeed in your 21st century business.
Why is that important? Because When Your Marketing Works Well, Sales Become Easy – and every small business owner needs sales to survive.Q: What evidence is there that I'm achieving my mission?
A: It would be wonderful if my work was reflected in the official government statistics over a period of time. But with over 6 million small business in the UK there’s a lot of work to do! Here’s a few of our recent successes with clients I’ve worked with:
Jane, a parenting coach, who nearly trebled her turnover in the first 12 weeks of the Master Your Message Coaching Programme.
Jane Evans / International Parenting Coach
Sam, a sales and leadership trainer, who was a student on the Mentoring Plus Programme. She went from delivering other people’s training to launching her own course and delivering it internationally. Her income rocketed and she even enjoys first class travel at her client’s expense.
Sam Sloan / Sales Trainer
Tania, a business automation specialist, who mastered her message and made more sales in two weeks than the previous six months.
Tania Jones / Automation Specialist
These are just a few examples of the success I've achieved by teaching The 21st Century Marketing System and how to apply it in real small businesses to get the results my clients so richly deserve.
How Did I Get Here?
The Story So Far...
It certainly was not a straight road. It was long, winding, and had many boulders, black holes, and detours along the way.
Here goes...
I started my career as a computer programmer after graduating with an HND in Computer Studies from Southampton College in 1984. In my spare time I wrote a software package for a local builder to help them with their estimating. It saved them a lot of time and money and they loved it.
I’d always had a burning desire to be my own boss. Shortly after my 23rd birthday I gave up my day job, started my first business to sell “Easy Estimator” to every unsuspecting builder in the country and make my first million.
Well that didn’t happen!
Within a few short years I’d screwed up, gone bust and buried myself under a mountain of debt. By the ripe old age of 26 I’d ‘lost my shirt’, become another government start-up failure statistic and was on first name terms with a local bankruptcy solicitor.
And I guess that’s where the story starts…
The Problem
Having a great product was only a small part of the entrepreneurial equation.
I learned the hard way that marketing is far more important – and a skill I needed to develop before I had another go.
This was the biggest lesson from my first business failure!
My Solution
I read every marketing book I could get my hands on, attended every seminar my credit card could bear, and burned the candle at both ends to hone my marketing skills. I loved it. It became my passion. It consumed me!
Over the last thirty odd years I’ve started several businesses and also helped friends take that great leap into the unknown. Some were successful, like my IT consultancy business which netted me a personal income of over £250K in the run up to the Year 2000 – Ah! Those were the days!
Others less so – like my property business which plummeted during the financial crisis and cost me a couple more shirts! As an entrepreneur you have to take the rough with the smooth. But on reflection, when I focused on my customers and applied what I learnt, things usually turned out well.
At least until the Internet came along and started to turn the marketing world on its head.
Expensive Frustration
I spent several years grappling with the swarm of new developments and trying to understand how this whole internet thing pieced together.
Not to mention burning a hole in several more credit cards attending weekend seminars run by the self-proclaimed experts of the day peddling the latest Internet fad.
The digital snake oil salesman left me frustrated, confused, deep in debt and with literally hundreds of hours of DVDs to wade through to find a single nugget of wisdom I could actually use in my next venture.
The stress of life in the 'fast lane' eventually took its toll and in 2006 I was diagnosed with a pretty serious heart condition.
That stopped me dead in my tracks and after my first batch of stents my doctors insisted I quit work and take things easy!
I have to confess that 'knocked me for six!'
Back to School
But I had to do something, so I went back to college and started to formalise my marketing and management experience, which was a really useful exercise – and actually kind of fun.
I began to understand the theory around what I’d been doing all those years, but the big digital picture still eluded me. That was until I enrolled for a Master’s Degree in Digital Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2012.
The fog gradually lifted and all became clear during my final year. My research dissertation focussed on the impact of the digital marketing skills gap on small business owners – and boy – was that an eye opener!
I’d finally solved the puzzle and it all made perfect sense.
the next chapter
Graduating in 2015 set me up for my next career move – to help fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners get to grips with the modern marketing landscape rather than drown in a sea of social media and digital information overload.
Every entrepreneur I interviewed during my research told me that if they only knew how modern marketing actually worked before they started their business, their lives would have been so much easier!
That inspired me to continue my journey and the concept of the 21st Century Marketing System was born shortly before I started my part-time PhD.
a new mission
In August 2017 I published my first book based on my research entitled “21st Century Marketing: What it is, why it matters and how to do it”.
The book presents a simple solution to a complex problem; it teaches entrepreneurs and small business owners how to generate word-of-mouth in the digital age.
My goal now is to help every willing entrepreneur and small business owner build a solid foundation in modern marketing before they repeat the mistakes I made when I first started.
You have to put marketing at the very heart of your businesses if you want to break through the noise and get your voice heard in our 24/7 connected world dominated by technology, social media and ‘digital everything’. And that’s not easy!
This book has been specifically written to show every entrepreneur and small business owner exactly what they need to do to harness the power of the internet, why it’s important to their business, and precisely how to do it.
from book to course
Reading a book, understanding what it says, and applying the knowledge it contains is a time consuming and complex challenge. Far better for the author to take you by the hand and show you how to utilise that knowledge to your greatest advantage. It’s far quicker, easier, and a hell of a lot more fun!
Turning a book into a course is not as easy as I first thought. My first attempts at creating an online course were embarrassing, to say the least. That highlighted another problem I needed to fix so I enrolled on an intensive programme with The Learning and Performance Institute (LPI).
Under the guidance of an amazing instructor, I qualified as a Certified Designer of Online Learning and went to work to turn the book into an online programme – The Business & Marketing Boot Camp Programme.
and then there was Covid
In early 2020 I planned to launch the 21st Century Marketing Academy with the objective of teaching coaches, consultants and small business owners how to apply The 21st Century Marketing System in their business.
The initial plan was to launch this offline to create a great interactive face to face experience.
Then Covid hit and the world shut down.
This was actually a timely interruption as my health had once again started to deteriorate. I took some time out to rest, recuperate, and basically see which way things were going.
One thing that really surprised me was the rapid rate of technology adoption. In fact, I’d go as far as saying we saw at least 5 years of technology adoption in as many months. Pretty soon everyone was familiar with tools like Zoom and previous barriers to technology were blasted away.
To Zoom and beyond
This opened up many new opportunities. Online networking replaced the old breakfast meetings in hotels and other venues. Travel ceased but interaction continued – just online.
Technology providers started integrating Zoom and other online platforms into their products. This resulted in a whole now opportunity for online learning, meetings and business in general.
Clunky tech was replaced by slick software that became a dream to use. This reawakened the techy within me and I saw an opportunity to create something that so far had eluded me.
a new vision for a new world
My long-held vision was to create a learning and social environment online that could be easily accessed from anywhere. An academy that was more than just a place to learn. Somewhere to apply those new skills and profit from them immediately.
A place where like-minded people could meet, interact, learn, solve problems, help each other and feel part of something far bigger. An online community dedicated to every member’s success. Accessible 24/7.
A trusted source to help entrepreneurs and small business owners navigate the sometimes lonely and often challenging journey they face every day.
Imagine having your entire community available on tap 24/7 in your pocket. Just whip out your phone and have the power in the palm of your hand.
The power to connect, ask questions, seek help, help other, collaborate, network – and have fun doing what you love whilst you build and run your business your way.
Community Focused Membership
My goal was to create a community focused membership environment dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed. A community that could be accesed from anywhere.
I wanted to help them acquire the essential skills and experience they need to grow and build their businesses in the 21st century. A place that would have helped me when I started my entrepreneurial journey over 30 years ago.
My vision for the 21st Century Marketing Academy was reborn, and I could finally see a way to get there by taking advantage of the advances in, and adoption of, technology due to the Covid catalyst effect.
the web app is live
The four pillars of the academy are Learn, Do, Connect & Share with areas dedicated to each.
Everything is focused on helping you get the RIGHT MESSAGE in front of the RIGHT AUDIENCE at the RIGHT TIME using the RIGHT TOOLS.
I offer a FREE account to anyone who wants to give it a test drive. You can download Chapter One of my book and access the FREE mini course that goes with it. Whilst you're there you can see what else is available - including the virtual coffee shop!
- The courses can be accessed from the LEARN Dashboard.
- The DO Dashboard is dedicated to helping you put what you learn into practice and start profiting from it.
- The CONNECT Dashboard gives you the opportunity to network with other members, and
- The SHARE Dashboard has been designed to give you the opportunity to see how others have used what they have learnt so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
My goal is simple - To have everything you need to succeed in one place where you can access it quickly and easily whenever you need it!
Mobile App Coming Soon
The platform has been built to support a fully functional mobile app. My aim is to allow you to do everything you can do from your laptop with the web also on your phone.
Remember what I said earlier about having your community in your pocket?
Here's where that becomes a reality. Imagine having all your courses and other resources available where ever you are.
And that's not all - all the community features will also be available on the app.
This will allow you to fire off a message to one of your fellow academy members, or post a comment on someone's feed directly within the app helping you maintain your focus.
No need to use any other app like Facebook or Instagram where the temptation to be distracted can be time consuming to say the least.
but let's keep thing in context...
One thing that came out of the Covid experience was the importance of the Work – Life Balance.
Many people took the opportunity to re-evaluate their lives and set a new direction. The Great Resignation was just one of the fall outs.
Building your business should be fun, exciting, profitable and rewarding.
But if you focus on nothing else you may end up paying...
The ultimate price
I know I did – with my health – and as I write these words in early 2023 I feel lucky to still be here and tell the tale.
Over the last few years my heart condition started to deteriorate, and my cardiologist told there was no room for any more stents. Eleven is quite a collection! The next stop is a triple bypass – which I am keen to avoid for as long as I can.
With the help of a health coach and dedicating time each day to focus on my health, I’m getting better at achieving that balance and feeling the benefits. It’s been an interesting journey so far and I’m sure it will continue to be so.
Part of my goal on this site is to share that journey as it unfolds on my blog. To share what I learn along the way and introduce you to those amazing people who help shape my thinking and have an impact on my daily life.
If there is just one thing that may help you or someone you love from these musings, then it will be worth the effort.
My Main Objective
My main goal is to help you build your business with the least amount of effort and stress.
And the way to achieve that is to crack the marketing code by getting the right message in front of the right audience at the right time using the right tools.
Let’s increase small business success rates – and live long enough and in great health to enjoy our success and live life to the full!
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