Adapt or die.

There's a reason you're not writing your client proposal on a slice of birch bark with a quill. Well, maybe you are because you're quirky like that, but I assume most of us use a computer.

Maybe traditional advertising isn’t dead, but the traditional concept of marketing is.

Take Social Media. To many it’s a vice. But to many it’s intimidating. Allowing the consumer to have full control over what's said about your company - and spreading it all over the internet - is scary. The control is gone. But if you’re not online, you’re not part of the conversation.

Say you write a news release today. How will you get it out? You’ll email it to a few hundred people on your list, expect that they forward it to a few hundred on their lists, someone will retweet it, someone will write a blog about it, and a couple dozen will make their Facebook status. Done. And it’s 9:15am.

Now try faxing it. A couple dozen pieces of paper creep out into the world and into the hands of an intern who says “What do I do with this?”

Darwin was right. Lesson learned.

A sweet read: “The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR” by Al and Laura Ries.

Image by The TJB on Flickr

Mother Nature Loves Marketers

The giant tree outside my office window is beginning to bud. Alas, spring has come. Yes, spring, and tax time.

It's during this time that we start to think about all the things we could do in the summer to gain business and network. And of course how much it would cost.

Last week, I had the pleasure of going to a Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in the community. I met tons of business professionals, exchanged a slew of ideas, and even made a few LinkedIn connections and Facebook friends.

Just months ago, in the dead of January, I couldn't imagine hauling myself out of bed and into the dark. But the early April sun made getting up at 5 in the morning a refreshing change of pace.

Being at random places at random times helps business. You don't need to spend your entire budget on a fancy black-tie conference, or cocktail event. Go outside. Walk around the market. Donate a book. Talk to your new friends.

Image by Crispin Swan, Flickr