You Just Never Know!

GUEST BLOGGER: Jenni Fleck Jones, Marketing Manager - Belfint, Lyons & Shuman, P.A.


With the ongoing changes in professional marketing, and the diversity of tasks that continue to fall under marketing positions, your time as a marketing professional can be spread in so many different directions. This means you probably don’t have the concentrated time or energy to put in the type of effort you want to give for any particular task. If you are like many marketers, your time may tend to get qualified with what you feel is most important. Have you ever found yourself brushing off tasks (or even people) that are not high on the list at that exact minute?  It’s a common problem! Sometimes acting on “what’s important” is necessary to accomplish your goals, but keep in mind that it can work against you as well.  Regardless of what the priority on your desk is, don’t forget that people, not projects, differentiate your business and make it successful.

As marketing professionals, we need to step back and re-evaluate how we spend our time, especially with people. You just never know who a person is or who they know. This concept is universal and applies to any industry, not just marketing or professional services.  For example, who knew that the father of your daughter’s friend on the softball team that you talk to every week also owns a very high profile company in the area? Or, what about that friend you know from PTA?  Turns out that she is actually the sister-in-law of one of your most valuable clients. Networking is not only valuable for getting business, but social interactions and networking can be a source for learning and support now and well into the future.  It’s the rule you see applied every day in “Six Degrees of Separation”, or LinkedIn, or Facebook. You just never know!

So, slow down and get to know the people you meet in everyday life. The next time you are casually talking with someone, listen to them and take the time to get to know them.  Ask open ended questions about what they do, where they are from, hobbies, family and what they love to do. You will not only get to know someone new, but you may even land a client or referral source.  Of course, building and fostering a relationship takes time.  Don’t look at it as, ‘What can this person do for me?’. Look at it as simply learning something new about someone and eventually….well, You Just Never Know!
Jenni Fleck Jones is the Marketing Manager at Belfint, Lyons & Shuman, P.A., one of the largest and most established certified public accounting and consulting firms in Delaware.


THIS ARTICLE CREDITS TO:

moiremarketing.com/GUEST BLOGGER: Jenni Fleck Jones, Marketing Manager - Belfint, Lyons & Shuman, P.A.
Image Credits: blh.com.ge