Richard C. Balmer
Owner and President
Rich Text Marketing

Rick is the founder of Rich Text Marketing (RTM), a marketing firm based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He brings 30+ years of business experience in water resources and environmental consulting, international trade, and marketing and sales—much of it working with technical, industrial, and manufacturing-focused businesses.

Prior to founding RTM, he launched two small sales and marketing divisions—the second became profitable within three months of launch. The challenge of growing that division convinced him he needed a stronger, more systematic approach to finding and keeping good customers. He understands firsthand the growth challenges many companies face.

As a result, he became a DigitalMarketer Certified Partner (DMCP) and now uses DigitalMarketer’s Growth Accelerator framework, a proven process that systematizes his clients’ marketing. He supplements this with RTM’s AI-driven Deep Dive Marketing Research service that identifies best-fit target markets, describes their needs in depth, and provides critical details that enable better client messaging and positioning.

Together, these processes define, target, and nurture his clients’ ideal prospects and markets, then identify the messaging and content that genuinely speaks to and engages them. They also help clients craft compelling offers that convert qualified prospects into long-term customers. Rick applies these same marketing and AI resources to his own business, so he tests what he teaches in his own company first.

He is also an American Writers & Artists Institute-trained copywriter and an AI trainer. He shows clients and their teams how to use AI as a practical tool for research, copy, and content generation.

In his conference presentations, his real-world examples illustrate marketing for manufacturers, and demonstrate how AI can support stronger pipelines and generate better, more qualified leads.

Interesting life facts: after high school Rick sailed for three summers as a merchant marine on commercial tankers—and even transited the Panama Canal. He’s also hiked on China’s Great Wall in four different sections near Beijing.

Unfortunately, he’s also been known to tell dad jokes. (Fear not…many have heard his jokes repeatedly, yet have gone on to live normal lives.)

Sessions

AI for Fabricators: What’s Real, What’s Working, and What’s Coming

Presented by Richard C. Balmer in Aqualea Grand Ballroom at 8:00 AM on Thursday, February 26th.

   Cut through the noise. See how AI is reshaping productivity, sales, and customer reach in manufacturing. Focus areas will include: Current and emerging AI tools and strategies; AI benefits, shortcomings and threats; and practical use cases for shops to save time and improve productivity.

Come See AI in Action…and See How to Get Output You Can Actually Use

Presented by Richard C. Balmer in Longboat at 2:30 PM on Wednesday, February 25th.

Hearing and reading about how to use AI can be useful…but seeing it actually done in real-time can be eye-opening. On Wednesday afternoon, come watch several simple demos and see how AI is can be used to generate useful, professional-quality output. You’ll learn about a simple framework that’ll help you build better prompting…and help you…

Marketing for Manufacturers

Presented by Richard C. Balmer in Aqualea Grand Ballroom at 10:15 AM on Tuesday, February 24th.

   Marketing explained for shop owners—especially for those with limited marketing training—without the fluff or hype. See a marketing strategy that’s working now, and how it uses AI to enhance proven steps of action that focus in on high-value prospects. See how to craft messaging that resonates with your prospects, nurtures and builds their…