JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Dave Mastovich grew up in Franklin Borough, working on comic books with his brother, Mike Mastovich, who is a Sports writer at The Tribune-Democrat, and a close friend.
Dave Mastovich said that he was always passionate about executing his vision and telling good stories that could be sold.
In the years since, he has taken decades of lessons from his marketing career and condensed them into a new book – “No Bullsh!t Marketing: 17 Contrarian Ways to Increase Referrals for Healthcare Services.”
“The book uses stories that are tied to Johnstown a good bit,” said Mastovich, MASSolutions CEO and founder.
He is no stranger to writing, having penned another book years ago. While working on a podcast recently, he said, he began getting questions about when he would write another book and decided it was a good time to put pen to paper again.
The book focuses on six key target groups with a tailored approach, from current customers to prospective or potential customers to current and potential referral sources.
“This book can help any type of business in any industry,” Mastovich said. “It happens to have some heath care examples, but it can work for anyone.”
The 1983 Conemaugh Valley High School graduate got his introduction to marketing during his teenage years, working in local radio, TV and print.
“My roots in Johnstown shaped my overall approach to business,” Mastovich said.
From there, he earned a degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, double-majoring in marketing and management. He then returned to IUP to get a master of business administration degree, which he credits for providing a “more global perspective” on his business.
During his career, Mastovich worked for the former WJNL AM-FM radio station, which was last in regional ratings when he started, but moved to first and second places in its respective categories when he and his creative team were finished, he said.
“What that showed me is what leadership and communication meant to business,” Mastovich said, commending the partnership of John Dame and David Smith.
After leaving the media world, Mastovich entered the health care industry, helping turn around health care systems, including facilities in Kittanning, Armstrong County, and the Mon Valley, he said.
When approached about consulting, he created MASSolutions in 2000, which he has run full-time since 2004.
“His approach has always been very behaviorally based marketing – what people are thinking, feeling, doing, and how to take that into account in a tactical approach,” Justin Skerbetz said of Mastovich, whom he has known and worked with for about 20 years.
They met when Skerbetz, a Pittsburgh native, was working at Highmark and a college friend of his was working for Mastovich.
Through meeting with Mastovich, Skerbetz said, he learned about marketing.
“He basically took on that mentor role for me,” he said.
Mastovich has been a sounding board and helped him be in a “buyer position” throughout his career, Skerbetz said, including in pursuit of his MBA degree and job opportunities.
He now lives in Dallas, Texas, and works as the head of marketing and sales for Insightin Health.
Mastovich’s approach to marketing helped Skerbetz better understand his own path, he said.
Skerbetz complimented Mastovich for his ability to tell a story using data and information. The Franklin native uses a predictive index and customer voice, storytelling and data analysis, and other tools of the trade to transform companies.
“It has helped me understand folks I work with and how to get more out of them and out of me,” Skerbetz said.
When he heard Mastovich was writing a book, he was surprised because of the distance between it and the last publication, but Skerbetz was interested in the subject matter of referral-source marketing around health care.
“I thought that was such an interesting thing because nobody has really used it in that manner,” Skerbetz said.
Skerbetz provided assistance with proofreading the book and critiquing the approach, but jokingly said he’s not going to read the entire book until he gets a signed copy from his friend and colleague.
Mastovich said he outlined “No Bullsh!t Marketing” about a year ago and shopped it around before finding Indie Books International. He was happy to have the company publish the book because of its background in similar professional work, he said.
The name of the book comes from his customers. Mastovich said he used his own methods on MASSolutions customers, and one consistent was people saying there’s no malarkey when dealing with the company.
“All of this (intellectual property) we have been using for years has continued to grow and coalesce to ‘No Bullsh!t Marketing,’ “ Mastovich said.
Since publication, the book has reached the No. 1 spot on two Amazon best seller lists and No. 2 on third, Mastovich said.
“No Bullsh!t Marketing” is available at all major online retailers.
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