Marketing is hard work. We see a new opportunity. We have a vision. We work towards delivering that vision working with our market.
It isn't easy.
Too often, midway through the process, someone gets frustrated and looks for that silver bullet. The conversations usually start with "If only we......" (for 5 points, what's your favorite line)? 
It was refreshing to see the dedication and progress made at the MSP Alliance show last week. This group saw the need over 7 years ago and relentlessly pursued the art of the Managed Service Provider. Now it is the hip thing and everyone wants to do it. Without paying their dues.
Been through this many times. In the early 80's it was local area networks. Took 5 years to make that the norm. Then it was email. (yes, that used to be an unusual thing). Then the computer appliance (that took 3 years). Now it's been several years since my vision of http as a secure disk i/o transport and we're delivering it thanks to the concurrent vision of the Amazon Web Services team.
The moral of this story is simple, if the vision is sound, connect the points of light with other people with a similar passion, and you can make it reality.
Oh, now "anybody" can "do marketing." ...Until it's not working and then they call the pros...almost always when it's far too late. We're pros not wizards (or werewolf killers.)
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | 03 October 2007 at 08:26 AM