When people ask what I do in my career, I naturally tell them I am a Business Coach and Marketing Consultant. It's often they look at me with a tilted head, trying to reconcile how those two components come together.
They are a more natural fit than you may realize.
For so many, marketing is this mysterious world of buzzwords, strategies and magic potions. Most don't truly understand it but know they have to have it. It will cure their ailments, make them taller, sexier, get them a spot at the "cool" table at lunch.
So, marketing is what they tackle. They charge forth chanting "we need to run an ad!" "We need a website!" "I want to show up on Google!" "How much does it cost to run an ad during the last news?"
Through the marketing process, the onion is peeled back. What appears to be an ill that can be cured with a spot in the late news turns out to be a much larger issue (marketers reading this may say "no kidding" but to clients its not that obvious).
I recently spent a day with a group of clients from across the country reviewing their 2010 marketing strategy.
It was one of the best meetings I've been in. What started off with CMS on their website, blogs, e-newsletters, SEM and so on turned into a much larger discussion. A philosophical discussion, if you will. Codes of Ethics, advisory board, individual responsibility.
During the meeting, one of my favorite people in the group said, "Gee, Dana. Do you like what's happened to your marketing meeting?" I enthusiastically replied "you bet!"
Why? These discussions are the foundation of business. It takes a discussion about marketing to get to the core of a business or organization. This is where coaching and marketing converge. We can't have a strong marketing program without a strong business or organization. And that requires a coach.
I do truly have the best job in the world. And, I work with the best clients in the world. No question.