I did it. I finally ordered an iPhone 4s. They are back ordered from Verizon so it may take a week to arrive. I can’t wait too soon.
Some of my followers may ask: why so long? Well, I really liked my Blackberry e-mail features, but I knew I needed to move forward with either a Droid or iPhone. I selected Apple because it started the innovation of the smart phone. I also need more robust social media features. I can’t wait and will soon place a short review on what I think.
Thanks Steve Jobs…
My birthday is in 6 days. Another year gone by. Fast.
I started my own small business marketing consulting company 3.5 years ago. I was afraid. I was excited. At first it was tough and I inched along but I kept moving forward. Month by month and client by client and idea by idea and content by content it happened. Some months were tough and some months were fantastic. Some months I almost threw in the towel. I also started teaching in the largest school of business in California. Teaching accomplished two things: it allowed me to develop my passion for communicating and enhance my skills. Teaching allows me to give back to the community by accelerating student learning curves. It also allows me to enhance my skills and knowledge. In one sense, as I teach I also go back to school. They learn. I learn. We all learn. And, just in case, it provides another revenue stream as I build my client and follower base.
As all this blends together, the thought leadership starts to grow. My website; my speaking; my teaching; my content; by book; and my blog. Together they all work in unison to create the brand called Stu. That Stu, short for Stuart Atkins and Atkins Marketing Solutions.
And what are the reasons? It’s the brand called you, as Tom Peters once wrote about. Each year it gets better and I learned one key lesson: take some risks and don’t look back. Marketing is ALL about risk. No risk, no reward. We are still in the great recession and I just had my best year. Not bad for a a bald guy.
Now go risk…you have my permission.
Thoughts?
“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”
William Strunk’s The Elements of Style.
Need I say more?
Segmentation is the key to good marketing. If you don’t segment, you waste time, money, and sales-both on the marketer and customer end of things. Dr. Philip Kotler, in this classic text, Marketing Management (14th Edition, p. 215), lists 25 major segment variables for consumer markets:
So before you just market and attempt to sell your product or service, slice and dice the above list and make sure you know the matches. Each one above is a question you should ask yourself. Each of these will also break down into sub-categories. Don’t just market to the mass.
Think rifle and not shotgun. Specific and not general. Drop and not ocean. Address and not zip code.
Thoughts?
I love what Seth Godin has to say about social media in this blog post. Social media is not a fad, it’s people connecting over “dinner table digits.” His post speaks for itself, so take a read:
Your thoughts?
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Atkins Marketing Solutions
Stuart Atkins - Marketing Consultant
Phone: 714 - 904 - 4453
Email: Stu@AtkinsMarketingSolutions.com
