What Do You Do?

What do you do? Good question.

I was at an AMA Conference that other day and a panelist said that he felt that it takes him 30 minutes to explain to folks what he does.

Yes digital marketing is very granular today and has a much great complexity than advertising in the past.

Developing broadcast advertising is not a walk in the park but certainly has less moving parts than a digital search campaign.

When I meet folks at networking events they ask me what I do besides wearing hats.

A lot of people would say that I am a networker.

I always hand out my cards showing the back first. It says BLANK in large letters. Most people like that.

It always gets the conversation started. The smiles and the chuckles. That’s why it’s there. I’ve never changed the back. I have changed my delivery descriptions over time..

I do lots of things because I like reinventing myself. I generally say I am a Marketing Consultant. Pretty vague today. Kinda sounds flat. Consulting means I am out of work to some folks.

I actually got an invite to a networking event that said only people working for companies were invited. No consultants. Seemed pretty pasee to me.

People turn the card over and on the front it says I do Advertising and PR. I do some of that but much less than I did a decade ago. It is a digital world these days..

The card says I do agency reviews and I do conduct agency reviews. I just finished one but agency reviews are done on a very irregular basis by clients.

My card also says Social Networking. I do a lot of social networking for Blank and Associates to market myself and some of my clients.

The last functional thing that my card says I do is, speak. Yes I have spoken to many companies and organizations across the country. Most organizations rarely pay. Not immediately anyway. During the height of the recession I would be flying back from somewhere and saying to myself. Why did I take two days traveling across the country to speak for free?

Then a couple of years later I dot a call from somebody I had met at that event and they retained my services for two years.

In the Old Normal, Focus was preached and key. Be a beacon of knowledge and expertise that can be easily found. In the New Normal, adaption and riding the wave of change is key.