Help from an Expert

Richard's Personal Statement

 I am driven by a belief that prosperous businesses create opportunities for individuals and communities, and I am passionate about my clients' success.  In addition to founding OmniMarketing2020, I am a Substitute Teacher for Cabarrus County Schools and an ultra-distance athlete with over 135 marathons so far.  At OM2020, I focus on enterprise business development, group facilitation, visual platforms (3D), digital engagement, e-commerce, multi-channel marketing, and professional group facilitation.  I have worked primarily in the home furnishings space but I also have experience in non-profits, real estate, visual technology, and education.  I have also been directly engaged by national brands such as Williams-Sonoma and AAA.  

I previously served as Chief Product Officer for MicroD, a leading product configuration and e-commerce visualization platform,  driving ecommerce, marketing, technology, and retail strategy.  Head of all B2B enterprise and dealer sales for our organization.  I also served as Vice-President, Member Engagement for AAA Carolinas and was responsible for the evolution of value-added interactions between 2 m. members and AAA lines of business.

I received national recognition as founder and President of Carolina Rustica, an upscale furniture retailer which became a media-recognized e-commerce leader for its user experience, portfolio, channel strategies, and growth vector. This was a bootstrap venture with its origins as a retail store in Charlotte and was the first truly high-end online furniture retailer to sell nationwide.

Out and About These Last Few Years...

Some videos showing how it all began...

Experience for the Long Haul

OmniMarketing2020: Founding Principal, 2015-Present

Clients include Blueport Commerce, William-Sonoma (as FTE for Outward division), Homeview, Giden, ARBrowser, Intiaro, Floorplanner, Impact Consulting, Home Furnishings Business, FurnitureCore, Affirmed Health Care, Champion Autism Network and home furnishings brands and retailers nationwide. Leveraging over 25 years experience primarily in the home furnishings industry, I focus on formulating effective digital strategies that build upon technology opportunities and challenges. This includes maximizing e-commerce opportunities while minimizing channel conflict, leveraging emerging technologies for an ideal user experience, benchmarking for project success and applying sound financial principles to evaluate true ROI. I am the Meeting Facilitator for several dynamic performance groups.

MicroD: Chief Product Officer, 2016-2018

Overall responsibility of developing a product road map and development schedule for of all of MicroD’s products and services offerings, including determining customer needs, feature offerings, and defining enhancements in existing as well as new products. Also charged with recruiting, building, managing and mentoring a team to offer value added services for digital marketing to existing and new MicroD customers to help them succeed in their digital and omnichannel marketing efforts.

AAA Carolinas: Vice-President of Marketing, 2014-2016

Executive responsibility for membership, digital, and engagement across multiple business lines and functions, including all front-facing web and social properties, customer journeys, corporate creative, and publications.

-Successfully took the lead and re-invigorated responsive design site launch for aaa.carolinas.com, revising site layout, content, navigation and other U/X elements.

- Introduced ideation platform for driving employee innovation, scoping and developing with a third-party partner at significant cost savings to other alternatives in the market.

- Replaced third-party location pages with a customized in-house developed solution, saving over $250k with deployment in 2017.

- Initiated review and phase-out of ineffective and expensive multiple chat platforms, rolling into SalesForce Live Agent, deflecting a high volume of costly Call Center interactions.

- Pioneered the concept of a Member Dashboard, integrated into SalesForce Communities, to create an all-in-one user experience for all member touch points across AAA Carolinas.

-Oversight over 8-digit marketing budget, including direct mail, content management, paid search, publications, social outreach, radio, paid placement and outdoor advertising.

-Directly guided new business scoping and development.

-Introduction of data-driven, analytics-based culture through scrum-style execution of Engagement initiatives, such as analyzing membership fee changes, acquisition campaigns, and platform selection.

-Key team leader on adoption, integration, and evolution of SalesForce Marketing, Community, and Commerce Clouds for front-facing functionalities.

-As an officer, report to the Board of Directors quarterly on all Engagement initiatives.

Carolina Rustica: Founder and President, 2000-2014

One of the earliest e-comm/brick-and-mortar hybrid retail operations in the home furnishings industry, Carolina Rustica was self-funded from its early days as a boutique retail store in downtown Charlotte.  Online operations began in 2000 and the business grew (despite two two recessions) at an average rate of 25% per year until acquired in 2012 by Mattress USA Inc, in Brighton, Michigan.  

-Responsible for Strategy, Formulation, and Execution of Technology and E-Commerce decisions, such as platform, onsite search, category taxonomy, linking strategy

-Third party applications and marketplace integrations

-SEO, paid search, social media campaigns and integrations

-On-site creative, navigation, and UX

-Supplier selection and channel conflict management

-Analytics, revenue attribution, optimization

-Annual revenue at time of acquisition was $10m. with 15 employees

Select Client list (present and past):

FurnitureCore

Home Furnishings Business Magazine

Impact Consulting

HomeView

ARBrowser

Outward Inc, a division of Williams-Sonoma (as FTE)

Champion Autism Network

Intiaro 

TripTuner

Floorplanner

Giden

Affirmed Home Care

Clarity Web Solutions

Get in touch: richard at omnimarketing2020.com