i do a good deal of freelance work for a couple of (really awesome) clients, and i’ve got some agency experience.  one of the very first things i learned when i started in an agency was that you simply can’t make everyone happy, and sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and do what the client wants… even if your client doesn’t have the faintest idea of what’s best.

let me just say that i hate that. ok, ok.  i get that i’m supposed to make my clients happy but, frankly, i’m stubborn and uptight and i come from the school of thought that when it comes to my work (branding, marketing, online media) i’m usually (if not always) right.  no, i’m not being a snotty asshole, i’m being a realist.  i went to school for this.  i’ve been working in this field.  i immerse myself in it 10-12 hours/day, every day (yes, usually weekends too)… therefore, i do think that my professional opinion holds some water – is that so wrong of me?

so i get it.  i can swallow my pride and do what my clients want but my problem is that i get emotionally involved.  i don’t just do what i do for money.  don’t get me wrong, the money is awesome and i love getting paid; but i really do take a sincere interest in each and every client’s mission and do my damndest to make it happen.

it’s frustrating when a client or a colleague (this happens at my 9-5 all. the. time.) thwarts my marketing efforts because they simply believe that they know what’s best for their brand.  excuse me… what are you paying me for?

people tend to look down upon marketers… they think we’re annoying and unnecessary.  the economy sucks… what are the first things to go? HR and marketing.  WHY!? you want to drive sales and traffic, yet you get rid of marketing – yes, i’m talking to you, you rotund CEO sitting pretty on your 6, 7, 8-figure income- do you think you can do it without us?  i’ve got news for you: you can’t.

“marketing” has become a buzzword.  suddenly, now that money is tight, people seem to think that they can take their audience by the balls and force them into submission… sorry folks, that’s not how it works.  they think they can hop on twitter and facebook and make magic happen; that they can throw together an email blast or direct mail piece/package and it’ll miraculously work.

every website tweak, email blast, survey question, direct mailing, tweet, facebook post, coupon, discount— they’re all calculated and well-thought out; they are planned and executed in a certain way, their results are documented and analyzed and thus a fruitful campaign is born.

marketing is a mix of psychology and business, of sales and communications; it’s not some cracker-jack profession that i just woke up and decided to persue one day.  i started my marketing education in high school- taking marketing classes, participating in DECA, working at various marketing internships.  i continued in college, where i declared my major (durr, marketing) at orientation (about 2 months before actually starting classes), took a myriad of marketing classes (database marketing, internet marketing, marketing management, interactive marketing, marketing communications, direct marketing, marketing research, and more), joined the business fraternity (alpha kappa psi) to further network my skills and interests, joined the direct marketing association, participated (and won) in marketing case competitions, and more.  i interned during and after college (in both an in-house marketing department and at one of the biggest agencies globally) and have been working in marketing ever since.

i realize that yes, this indeed, has become a rant, but i do hope that you gleaned something from it.  i may be a twenty-something who’s younger than most of the folks you work with, but that gives me an edge… and by no means am i “green”.  i know my (earmuffs) shit and have a track-record that proves it.  ask me.  i’ll happily share.