Freelancing PLUS

Here's some interesting news; in addition to my freelance career, I've started a new business. My lifelong friend, Brian, and I are proud owners of a bouncing baby IT company.

Many of you are saying: Mike, you're a writer, not a PC tech. And I would respond: True dat. However, I am handling sales and marketing for the new venture and Brian, a seasoned and certified network engineer, is our technician.

As if I didn't have enough going on in my life. But it was time to get out on my own and try to attain my family's dreams. So I did leave my promotional marketing career, which I had for nearly 9 years. I will miss aspects of the work, especially since I still truly believe in the magic of promotional marketing. But I came to the conclusion that the business of selling promotional products and I don't necessarily see eye to eye.

When I entered the industry, I was taught that we sell stuff - pens, mugs, t-shirts, yada yada. Then I sought out training from business professionals, those gurus who teach that the product end is merely a vehicle. They would explain that promotional MARKETING is on par with any marketing discipline. And it certainly makes sense. After all, with the right item and execution, I could help a customer drive more sales traffic, get the word out, encourage sales people to perform, etc.

They also liked to tell us that, of all the things our potential buyer was concerned with, PRICE was number six on the list according to industry studies. Well, I live in the Midwest and I felt I could argue with that statistic. We're, in a word, cheapskates. Okay, not cheapskates but financially conservative. Where were they polling people, on the coasts? Still, I marched on, believing the gurus. And I think my instinct about the Midwest was right, because I lost sales to price. Problem was, I wasn't willing to bargain most of the time. I was a marketing professional, providing a service that would help your company grow, spending my hours and days in dedicated service to my customers' needs.

And some apparently could have cared less.

So with my convictions intact, I decided I didn't want to be a seller of pens any longer. And that brings us back to the present. Wish Brian and me luck, and perhaps I'll update you folks some time in the future.