The Joy (and Value) of Networking

The Need to Network …

I’m finding that, in these difficult economic times, there are fewer people joining professional associations and attending professional development programs. I’m sure the reason is financial. In tough times, there is a drive to cut every cost that you can. However, I would like to make the case that, especially in times like this, networking through associations and conferences is essential – both for professional and personal reasons.

Professionally, in a time of rapid change, it is more important than ever to keep a finger on the pulse of change. You need to hone skills. You need to get outside perspectives from your peers and from professionals. Naval gazing in a tornado is not a recommended survival strategy.

On a personal level, this is the time to keep up your contacts. Even if you think you have a secure job now, that could change without much notice. Companies fail. And even for companies that are survivors, marketers are (unfortunately) too often at risk. If you don’t have a network outside your own company, you will be at a disadvantage in a job search. It’s all about your network.

So, cut costs where you must. But be careful not to cut off the resources you’ll need to survive.

Who's Accountable?

Once upon a time ... in a galaxy far away ... a primitive tribe of marketers huddled around a primitive campfire and chanted "we can't be accountable." In this primitive world, there was a primitive idea that marketers were somehow different from those in other tribes who had auditors looking over their shoulders. Marketing can't be measured, they cried. It's an art. It's immeasurable. It's magic.

That primitive world has gone away. In this galaxy ... in this world ... in this reality, there is a universal understanding that accountability and measurement are the brave new world. And marketing can't escape the universal mantra that measurement is a mandate. Measurements may not be perfect, but they are necessary. And as marketing costs have escalated, there is an increasing chorus of managers who are demanding that the marketers prove their worth. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? Well, let's just say difficult. There are creative minds out there that have been able to create approximations - if not precise measurements - for marketing effectiveness.

It's about time marketers stop stonewalling the need for accountability. It's part of the new world we're living in.