Management

Founder & President

Steve- 2013Venmark International was founded in November, 1976 by Steven M. Stroum, who has a passion for helping small business owners. He was guided by four key principles: Small business is the nation’s largest job creator and the key to a healthy economy; publicity is the most cost-effective way to get widespread exposure for any company; advertising agencies and public relations firms are not structured to work with small businesses; and in business relationships all parties must win!

 

In order to get the most meaningful publicity for his small business clients, Stroum created a business model to assure that Venmark International would become a respected “source of information” for media outlets. At the same time, he needed that business model to overcome the structural deficits of conventional advertising agencies and PR firms where account executives were highly compensated and annual retainers were beyond the scope and reach of the majority of small businesses.

Given that market reality, Mr. Stroum created a business model which involved teaching salespeople how to sell publicity and writers how to create and write effective press releases. This was coupled with creative photographic direction and expert photography services accompanied by manufacturing-like, automated production processes. This distinctive business model has allowed Venmark to provide high-level, creative product publicity services to hundreds of small businesses on a project basis for very reasonable fees.

Venmark International’s brand and longevity are based upon helping clients achieve the best marketing return-on-investment through product publicity by providing editors and web hosts with news and information in a format that helps them do their jobs more effectively. And Venmark International’s success is based on Stroum’s core belief that what is in the client’s best interest and the editor’s best interest is in Venmark’s best interest. And his novel business model assures this.

Stroum Recognized For Contributions to Small Business Community

In recognition of Venmark’s contribution to the success and growth of numerous small companies, Mr. Stroum was selected to serve on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Small Business Task Force and was later appointed as one of 18 Small Business Advisors to the Governor of Massachusetts.

Venmark’s contribution to the small business community was recognized further when he was selected by the International Rotary Foundation to tour South Korea for six weeks as an Ambassador. Mr. Stroum has addressed the Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association, The Inventors Association of New England at MIT, the IEEE, and many other business and civic groups. He was also appointed to The Norbert Weiner Forum at Tufts University to study the impact of technology on society and also served on the SBANE (Smaller Business Association of New England) Board of Directors as Publicity Advisor.

Steven M. Stroum, founder and president of Venmark International is a seasoned product publicist, marketer, entrepreneur, and innovator who has been featured in articles which have appeared in INC Magazine, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine, Industrial Marketing, OMNI Magazine, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Middlesex News, and San Francisco Chronicle. He has also appeared on numerous radio and television programs, addressed many Rotary Clubs and other business and civic groups, and been guest lecturer at Boston College, Babson College, MIT, and his alma mater Northeastern University.

Beyond knowing how to get meaningful publicity for his clients in-print and online, Mr. Stroum has run a successful business for over 40 years and truly understands the integrated marketing challenges facing small- and medium-sized companies today.