Marc Kossmann

What do the Internet, psychology, video, entrepreneurship, marketing, meditation, a black belt, and motorcycles have in common? Let’s find out.

All marketers might be said to be students of human behavior, but few have earned a doctoral degree in the science of human behavior or have actually specialized in the study of brain-behavior relationships.

Dr. Marc Kossmann originally trained in neuropsychology and worked with people who suffered brain injuries and other neurological problems. He then spent over 10 years working with cancer patients in a multi-disciplinary medical oncology practice. After nine years of specialized study in psychology and earning a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, he spent 20 years helping people understand the nature of emotional and behavioral problems they experienced and then working through the needed changes to improve the quality of their lives.

Along the way, Dr. Marc got bitten by the entrepreneurship bug. While graduate training in psychology (like most professions) does not provide even five minutes of training in the business of building a business, it became clear to Dr. Marc that every business owner and professional is in the business of solving problems. It also became clear that connecting “people with problems” to the solutions they need is accomplished through marketing. In the process of building several of his own businesses, from a psychology practice to a real estate investing company and now co-founding a video-marketing firm, Dr. Marc became a serious student of the psychology of marketing.

Dr. Marc specializes in helping clients totally dominate search results online by first creating attention-getting, compelling video-promotional messages tied to the keywords most important to that business. Then he creates many different versions of those video promotional messages. And then all of that content is published over and over again to multiple online video-sharing sites. Feeding the search engines so much great content results in total domination when someone searches those keywords.

When asked, “Why online video marketing?” Dr. Marc responds, “Because of the power of video as a communication tool. It’s better than face-to-face in the sense that you can put an edited, polished version of yourself and your message out to millions of people—but they have a very personal, one-to-one interaction with you on their end.”

“But that’s only half the story,” he continues. “Video’s power is in reaching out and connecting with your ideal client, customer, or patient. But to do that, first you have to get found when that person goes online to research the problem they have—you know… the problem you’re ideally positioned to solve with your business or practice! And that requires building a Dominant Total Web Presence. It’s not just about a great website anymore. You have to think outside the website and learn to dominate the organic search results with great content you have published and syndicated out to lots of different web locations.

“Video works because Google LOVES video. Google purchased YouTube because they have the data to show that people prefer video. They want to watch information more than they want to read. We are, after all, a culture raised watching television. So if you want to get found online, you need video.”

Dr. Marc adds, “When you look at a typical search-results page on Google, follow your eyes as you scan the page. Notice that images trump text when it comes to attracting your attention. But now look at a search results page that offers your eye text, images, AND the enticing image of a video player. Which gives you the greatest urge to click? Regardless of your personal preference, Google knows that the overwhelming majority of people will click on that video player, and THAT is why Google owns YouTube.

“So, like Google, we focus on video in our marketing because video is what people respond to. And when you combine the power of video with the reach of the Internet, you have a phenomenal force of nature. If you want to Get Found by your ideal client… if you want to Engage with your ideal customer or patient… then You Need Video! It’s as simple as that.”

In addition to doctoral training in psychology, Dr. Marc brings an Eastern flavor to his work. A long-time student of multiple martial arts (along the way achieving a black-belt level of expertise in Tae Kwon Do), Dr. Marc developed an interest and spent many years studying and practicing Buddhist meditation.

He once spent nine full days living with Buddhist monks in complete silence, studying the mind from within and understanding that patterns and habits of the mind are a powerful force of nature. Meditation reveals not only how mental patterns are formed but also how they can be changed by conscious awareness and insight. Now as an adjunct professor in a graduate psychology program, Dr. Marc teaches counselors how to use mindfulness meditation in their own lives and in their work with clients.

Other factors also shaped Dr. Marc’s tendency to see patterns from outside the box. With an Italian mother and a Dutch father, Dr. Marc grew up speaking Italian before learning English, and he often traveled abroad as a child, learning to see his own culture from both the inside and the outside. In high school and college, he studied Russian just for the challenge of learning a language that was totally foreign and unfamiliar to him.

Seeking challenges and finding an exciting edge to life are important to Dr. Marc. Whether it’s riding motorcycles through twisting mountain passes or leaving the grid for a week at a time to test his survival skills on back-country backpacking adventures, he likes to bring a little fun and adrenaline into every marketing project. “Hell, if it isn’t fun, then why are we doing it?”

After all, that edge is part of what entrepreneurship is all about. Having an idea and being willing to invest heart, soul, and dollars to bring a new concept to life and then turn it into a profitable enterprise—that’s exciting stuff. So after developing several business ventures of his own, Dr. Marc has dedicated his skills to helping other entrepreneurs and business owners succeed by understanding that marketing is a profit center for your business, not an expense.

“Marketing is what connects your solution to the pain your ideal client, customer, or patient experiences, and marketing enables that person to change his or her current pattern and be more successful in life through your help. Both marketing and psychology are about understanding the pain that motivates a person and then helping that person find the best possible solution to the source of that pain.”

Dr. Marc concludes, “Marketing is relationship building. Marketing is problem solving. Marketing is about facilitating change. Marketing is a psychological intervention that brings profit to your business or practice by making sure people immediately recognize you as the expert solution to their current pain or problem.”

Dr. Marc lives with his wife Deb (also a clinical psychologist) and two exceptional cats just outside of Philadelphia, PA USA.

Marc was recognized by the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors and Verified as a Best Selling Author

Search for and connect with Dr. Marc on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.