Nobody Said Marketing Was Easy

It has been over a month since my last post on this blog. That is bad.

What is good is that I realize it is bad. Marketing is about consistency, about developing virtual relationships with prospects, about delivering value. It takes commitment, time, care and effort. It is not easy.

It is this consistency that clients often fail to acknowledge. In an age of instant communication, clients crave quick lead generation programs. In that pursuit, even in B2B markets, they dream up larger and larger incentives and gimmicks to get people to give up their names and enter a "nurturing" program. However, especially in B2B, the best leads are those that are created in response to simple, legitimate presentation of the actual value proposition. These programs tend to not be flashy...rather they are consistent. And they take time to bear fruit.

In my lack of consistency, I have reinforced for myself the challenge of marketing -- there is always something to do in the business day, but to grow and be successful, I need to let prospects (and customers) know we are here, and how we can help them. Slow and steady wins the race, and right now, I am behind. It is lesson you can learn from too.

Posted by jcioban at 1:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The End of a Decade

10 years.

The 200x decade is about to become history. And with it will go a tumultuous time. For me personally, it was a time of rebuilding from a series of personal losses coupled with a period of great innovation and exploration. During the years that ensued, I moved the company from services, into software and now back to a blended software/services model. I experienced great highs and tremendous challenges.

Of greatest importance, I learned.

When I used to do interviews of prospective students for Dartmouth, my alma mater, they would sometimes asked what was the most important thing I learned in college. Never wavering, I would always answer..."I learned how to learn". That skill has been essential to making it through the past decade. And the upcoming one seems no different.

In 2009, we experienced profound cultural change as society broadly accepted the new ways of doing things that the internet has made possible. As we (i.e. John Q. Public) become more comfortable with these new tools, I can guarantee that many industries will be redefined. If you are an executive, Web 2.0, social media and beyond all represent the opportunity to build a new future. Miss the opportunity and the alternative may be the path of dinosaurs.

For 2010, I am committing to writing more on this blog, to focusing my energies better and to building stronger relationships with partners, associates, customers...in short, all the smart people around me who can help elevate my thinking and drive new ideas into realities.

Thank you for reading in 2009 and I look forward to connecting again in the new decade!

Posted by jcioban at 2:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)