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Tool Show-and-Tell - Developer Drawn to Web Presentations
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January 8, 2003
The Muskegon Chronicle
By Dick Davies
Luanne Brown says she has always been kind of a "car
girl." Her father was an automotive pattern-maker
and her three brothers were usually tinkering with some
sort of vehicle parked in the family garage in Grand
Haven.
So was no big surprise that she courted parts of the
automotive industry as early customers of her new business.
Brown, 46, is owner and president of eTool Developers,
a marketing and training firm at 900 Third in Muskegon.
She started her company as part of the Muskegon Lakeshore
Launch Pad early last year after receiving approval
from the governing board.
"I whipped up a business plan and they welcomed
me on the spot," she said. The launch pad provides
reasonably priced office accommodations to new businesses
in the expectation that they will eventually move off
on their own.
Brown says her motivation to go it alone came after
spending a dozen years in California as an income auditor
and general cashier for the ITT Sheridan Corp., and
as an accountant with Clairol and the Disney Corp. There,
she met her husband, Russell, who she says will probably
join her in her business one day.
Despite California's living advantages, the World Wide
Web beckoned and Brown, an admitted "computer junkie,"
found herself unable to resist.. "I love the world
of the Web," she said. "Once I found it, I
thought this was it."
Her first major job after returning to West Michigan
was with Media 1, a Nunica company providing interactive
Web solutions to businesses, industries and other companies.
After five years there, a slow national economy forced
job cutbacks and Brown said she became a casualty -
and then a business owner.
Her eTool Developers puts together product, sales-training
and marketing presentations in digitized animation for
Web sites, television, CD-ROMs, magazines and other
media outlets. What Brown strives to do is to simplify
the presentations so that virtually anyone can understand
how a complicated tool or part works, from the inside
out.
For example, she said, "We can show fuel and air
mixing in a carburetor. We can take on virtually any
subject."
Her clients may be manufacturers and distributors of
parts and motors, or the companies buying the items.
"We can pull it all together - I want to be their
right arm," Brown said. She said her company will
create the technical animations and then will work with
ad agencies or video companies in putting them together
for wide distribution.
If employee training is involved, "We want to make
it specific to the task," she said. "We try
to simplify and tell them what they need to do to get
their job done. We get rid of the fluff. I can train
anyone as long as I have the subject-matter experts
that tell what's important about this." She said
her training can be applied to any subject area, including
pharmaceutical, furniture or general retail.
Brown said "the hottest tool last year" she
was involved in was an automotive engine analyzer that
made the top 20 listing in Motor Magazine. More than
a half-dozen distributors have used her services to
animate the workings of the analyzer, one of them a
company in Germany. Brown says a good part of her time
is spent performing a balancing act between the developers
- "artists and a different group of people"
- and the corporate heads. "I can explain in basic
English what the corporate people want - and have the
Web developers follow (that information)," she
said. "I use the technical writers to script the
stuff for me."
What Brown has to do when dealing with a potential customer
is sell a service that has little form or physical substance.
"I'm selling something you can't see, and I'm asking
you to give me large, or small, amounts of money for
it," she said.
Nevertheless, Brown has attracted the attention of the
corporate world, some of whom are executives of Fortune
500 companies. "A lot of people are courting me
... asking me to come and work for them," she said.
"Sometimes I think maybe we should ... but then
I realize I have something going here."
For now, Brown works mostly by herself with assistance
from Lorraine Grose of Spring Lake, an independent contractor,
and computer guru Mark Drenten, who works out of his
home in the Grand Rapids area. Drenten is an expert
at creating three-dimensional animation, which makes
their working relationship a "good marriage,"
according to Brown. Brown says she works 50- to 60-hour
weeks, mostly out of her office - but trips to national
trade conventions are made periodically. Last fall,
while in Las Vegas at a show attended by performance
racing people, she enjoyed a memorable experience: She
was offered a ride on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in
a car once driven by Nascar racing legend Richard Petty.
"We went screaming around the track up to 167 mph,"
she recalled. Brown said six cars in formation gave
her the feeling of participating in an actual race.
"I wore a fire-proof suit, and a helmet. It was
so much fun. When we were done I said, 'I get it.' I
love the racing world. They're really down-to-earth
people."
Brown, who lives in Spring Lake, is the mother of two
children, ages 15 and 12. Despite a busy schedule, she
tries to stay active in their lives. Her long history
serving as a Girl Scout leader in Ottawa County has
converted her into a "cheerleader," she says,
whether dealing with her children or her business.
"Being able to get up in front of 300 (Scouts)
and getting them all singing makes you a cheerleader,"
she said. Brown's eTool Developers can be reached by
calling (866) 838-6657 or sending an e-mail message
to luannebrown@etooldevelopers.com.
FAXBOX:
Who: Luanne Brown, president of eTool Developers, a
marketing and training firm
What: The company develops product, sales-training and
marketing presentations for Web sites, TV, CD-ROMs and
other media outlets
Goal: To simplify presentations so anyone can understand
how a part or tool works
Where: Currently located at 900 Third in Muskegon at
the Muskegon Lakeshore Launch Pad
Background: Brown was an income auditor and general
cashier for ITT Sheridan Corp., and an accountant
Contact: (866) 838-6657 or sending an e-mail message
to luannebrown@etooldevelopers.com. |
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“On
August 11, 2001, we celebrated 50 years in Western Michigan.
You don’t do that without excellent relationships
with everybody.”
Mike Pepper,
General Manager
Howmet Corporation
an Alcoa Business |
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