When I first entered the working world I remember quietly scoffing at the 'old timers' who bragged of their years of experience and reminded me often that they'd forgotten more than I'd ever know about marketing and communications. I would chuckle to myself and think 'if they're so damn smart, why did they forget?". It was a youngster's brash defense for what I didn't know - and hoped to learn one day. I wanted what they had and have always been anxious to attain it.
Those who know me will probably say that I'm a patient man. They watch my outward approach to business and personal challenges and will often comment that I seem to take things in stride without imploding - even in the most volatile of situations. But the fact is, I've always been more than a little impatient when it comes to learning and grasping professional lessons. I think I have a reasonable capacity but I never felt I absorbed or applied as much as I would have liked throughout my career. Maybe I was privately afraid that I was going to 'forget what the next guy hadn't learned' before I used it. Age and experience aren't necessarily related unless the time is used wisely.
My point here is that I've seemed to always have a keen instinct about business situations and people. It's a skill or ability that I've probably taken too lightly over the years, but in fact, it consistently serves me well. And that's what I encourage others...especially younger professionals, to take advantage of and trust. Learn all that you can. Absorb the knowledge. Read. Question. Explore. But trust your instincts, too. I think the consummate professional balances instinct and intellect...weighs them carefully and uses his/her experience to make good decisions for their companies, clients and themselves. It happens to be a lesson that I've learned with age...gracefully, I hope. The key is to not forget it - and share it with our younger brethren, generously.

Is there anything tougher than building your own marketing program? Seriously. I can bang out campaigns for clients left and right, but when it comes to crafting a hard-hitting program for myself, I stutter step like a wide receiver making a catch on the sideline! Maybe staying 'in bounds' isn't all that necessary. I just need to go for it, you know?

Some might argue that I'd be better off hiring all the creative outside. I'm starting to think they're right (and giving it strong consideration, I might add). But MAN it's hard to let go - especially when I do this for a living!

In any case, the concept is strapped down. That's under control (finally). Now we're working on each of the elements of the campaign, graphically and mechanically. Needless to say, every inch of this program has to be aces. If we're going to launch a lead generation campaign for Procom, it simply must be so buttoned-up that the recipients have to say "Wow, these guys are good - sign me up!"

That's what I'm going for...inch by inch.

It seems like every day we dive headlong into our list of tasks. Not much time to reflect on where we were - or sometimes, where we're going. Even the earliest of starts is met with a list of proverbial 'to dos' that seem to stare at us throughout the day, defying us to scratch them off to mark their completion.

The phone rings. Emails stream in and we're off to the races, trying to keep our valuable customers happy and and striving for that feeling of achievement and accomplishment when the tasks are done and (hopefully) whatever we've completed meets with the customer's approval.

The relaunch of Procom is nearly a year old. February 1, 2010 I hung the shingle out to announce the return to entrepreneurship and the business I love so much - marketing. I could fib and suggest that I have no regrets, but the fact is, I do have one. A big one. I'm so buried IN the business, I'm not spending time ON the business. My early good fortune, made possible by a handful of dear personal and business friends, helped me get out of the gates quickly in 2010. That's the good news. The bad news is that my fast start caused me to abandon what I knew to be a solid business plan. I needed to keep the funnel full. I had to do for myself what I work so hard to do for others - market my business!!

So, call it a New Year's resolution or just plain good sense (better late than never!), but this is one marketing 'shoemaker' who is going to launch a marketing program for MY business. Stay tuned. It's going to be a fun and (fingers crossed) successful story to tell!