John Follis, President and Creative Director for Follis, Inc, spoke at tonight's ICCA NYC meeting about getting prospects excited. I really enjoyed his talk and he answered many questions I had. For instance, how does marketing differ from networking?

The difference between networking and marketing has long been a blur to me. I often wondered when one stops and the other begins. As John puts it, networking is one on one while market reaches more than one person. I am networking when I meet a new person who might be a prospect or a referral to a prospect. On the other hand, a monthly newsletter is marketing as it will reach out to more than one person at a time. Having articles published is another form of marketing as it reaches a greater audience than networking alone.

Another concept John mentioned tonight that I liked is how people perceive the difference between investment and expense as it relates to marketing. When marketing is done right the cost is an investment while marketing gone wrong is an expense. Here's hoping I will continue to invest in my marketing strategy and avoid having a huge marketing expense.

Lastly, John pointed out that marketing is not just about giving out information. Giving out information can be stale and boring. Marketing should tap emotions. For White Peak Software this means illustrating the experience and excitement felt as the result of a successful software release. I plan to incorporate the concepts shared by John at tonight's meeting. And as with last month's ICCA meeting, the presentation provided real value to small IT business owners like me.

posted by Kirby Turner | 26-Oct-2004 10:48 PM | comments (0)

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