Quote of The Day - 11/28/06

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." - Sir Francis Bacon

 

 

 

Quote of the Day - 11/21/06

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." - Alexander Graham Bell

 

 

 

 

Quote of the Day 11/14/06

"The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others." - Hasidic Saying

 

 

 

 

Executives Rank Marketing Most Critical Area for Next Generation of Business Leaders

According to a survey of U.S. senior executives, marketing will be the most important area of expertise for the next-generation of leaders.

The study, commissioned by the Institute of International Research, sought to identify key areas for leaders. Marketing was the clear choice, with 31% of votes, followed by 20% for operations and 16% for financial expertise. Sales and engineering were deemed least critical to leadership with 11 and 6% respectively.

While marketing departments are often struggling to effectively measure effectiveness and the related battle for internal credibility, studies such as this provide evidence that marketing is making significant headway in proving its value within organizations.

Marketer Seth Godin attributes the rising recognition of marketing to fierce marketplace competition. “Being good enough is no longer good enough,” said Godin. “This is the most cluttered marketplace in history--just about everything is available everywhere, all the time. Leaders understand that spreading the word about their offerings is the only path to success. This survey hammers home that point--the success of an organization is driven by one thing: whether or not people choose to buy what you've got to sell.”

- source marketingtoday.com

 

Marketing Conversant - 11/01/06

Well, the hard thing about being a small firm is marketing yourself.  While we help others in these very matters of marketing, branding, building the big 'mo', etc. - you have to remind yourself that you too have to market yourself - daily almost hourly.

You have to do direct mail, you have to follow-up via the phone, you have to update the website, you have to create and cultivate strategic partnerships.  You have to go to the Chanmber of Commerce lunches and the assocication get togethers that you are a member of.  You are constantly marketing and selling your services.

It would be nice to think that once you got to a level that you could cruise thru this part of your business but no the business landscape changes, the economy fluctuates, clients leave, personnel change so these things keep you grounded in staying focused on the prize. 

It's not about getting more clients necessarily, it's about doing great work for your clients so they come back and thru that word of mouth they market for you.

Got to go now - we need to do some great work - and to do our cold calling!

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