OUR STORY - A MESSAGE FROM THE ORIGINAL FIREBIRD 21

As just another kid that grew up watching Star Wars, I seem to have all of the sudden found myself flying attack helicopters in combat over Baghdad.  It seemed cool enough, imagining the whole time that we were about to drop in on the Death Star.  Although the graphics were almost identical in my helicopter to those depicted in the X-Wing, the reality was a lot more serious than the movie.  So, after volunteering post 9-11 and serving with distinction for over 7 years, in 2010, I left the Army to return to the business world. 



Before the Army, I earned an MBA from Texas Tech University and worked in marketing and consulting for companies like Compaq Computer, HP, Comerica Bank, and SCI.  I also spent a brief period of time consulting for Dell (but I guess, who in Austin hasn't?)

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So what we're left with after all of this, is that the mission focus and attention to detail learned in the Army are applied to the experience and success achieved in business - resulting in a quality asset on your team in the form of Firebird 21 Solutions.  



So why online marketing?  With my background and the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the average American Soldier, I found myself consulting for a lot of smart people with great small business ideas (seemingly every deployed soldier has a plan to get rich when they get out - wiki Ray Kroc or Walt Disney) .  A number of solid ideas were born from the soldiers around me with a common area of needed expertise among them - the ability to enable customers to discover the businesses online.  

The efforts to perform SEO by my colleagues, despite their best efforts, did not enable their sites to be as visible as they would have needed in order to be successful.   This, coupled with the  impersonal and seeming black hole of customer service provided by companies like Yelp, left most frustrated and feeling helpless.  



So mostly for free, I began setting up ad campaigns and educating my friends and colleagues about budgets and ROI and strategic planning as it relates to marketing spend.  The successes and failures of the experience gained was payment enough.  I earned an education through trial and error that enabled me to put together a company providing this expertise to other small businesses, and it is likely how you found me - online.  



For the last few years in the Army, I was a flight instructor at the Army's Attack Helicopter School.  My callsign was Firebird 21.  So  as word of mouth spread for my services, it only made sense to keep the name - and so Firebird 21 Solutions was born.

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For new customers, we're still small enough that I try to take as many of the incoming calls and initial consultations as I can.  So chances are, if you're new to our services, I'm looking forward to speaking with you personally about how we can help you succeed.  

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                        Jake Gaston

                                        Firebird 21 Solutions