“Here’s a little story I’ve got to tell about a
phenomenon in business we know so well.
It started at an event for networking,
I met a guy who knew a gal that needed help with marketing.”

-Beastie Boys-ish

True story. It did take a couple years to bear fruit, but this is a classic case of how networking simply works. It is as true as time, and as effective as electricity. I met an insurance salesman (completely unrelated to my industry) who I’ll call “Boss.” Boss was a nice, approachable guy who was easy to get along with. Since he was of similar age as my coworker (J-Bo) and I, we pretty much hung out the whole time. In fact, we got a couple nice looking ladies to hang out with us too (more on that a little later).

Boss kept in touch with J-Bo and they hung out on weekends. I spoke with him from time to time as well, and we always shared a great rapport. And that was it. Until Boss’s girlfriend of two years made nice-nice with the next-door neighbor. The three became friends and the neighbor mentioned she needed the same services my firm provides. Oh yeah, and she works for a gigantic company who owns a place on the NYSE. Boom. Unfortunately, J-Bo moved on to bigger and better things. But since he left the industry, Boss set up a meeting between the three of us.

By the way, the side story is when Boss, J-Bo, the two lovely ladies and I had to part ways at the end of the night, J-Bo and I noticed Boss propositioning one of the gals to have a drink at a nearby watering hole. That gal moved in with him a few months later (I think they are engaged), the same gal who befriended the next-door neighbor who I ultimately formed a business relationship with. This is all true. And networking made it happen.

We’ve all heard that networking works. And I know there are some doubters out there. This specific networking event was small and geared toward “young professionals.” It was put on by one of the smaller Chambers of Commerce in our area, and the only reason I went was to teach the new guy how to talk the talk. I had no expectations, and for a couple years hadn’t thought twice about it. And then I got the call. I’m not saying this account will allow me to ride off into the sunset on a titanium robo-horse with a platinum parachute, but every business relationship has to start somewhere.

I’d love to hear more stories of success in networking, or the opposite. Has anyone religiously attended these events, participated enthusiastically, and found that all of their efforts have been washed down the garbage disposal? What types of people do you meet? J-Bo and I were the only ones in the graphic design, photography and printing industry, which was to our benefit. Do you ever run into a bunch of folks in the same industry as you? I bet there are some good stories out there regarding competing for contacts, sleazy sales vultures and eventual triumph/loss. Let us hear your stories!

Okay, so we have all heard about the proposed privacy legislation introduced to clamp down on sneaky/underhanded online marketing efforts (if you haven't heard about it, crawl out from under your rock and click AdAge Article). My question is, what impact will this have for online marketing, and overall direct marketing, efforts in the future?

The way I understand it, an address can be a physical address or virtual address (email). The legislation in question would require firms to ask permission before marketing to each individual consumer. Now, here is my main complaint: weren't we all told by our folks when we were young to "always read the fine print?"

Seriously, put aside the few bad apples and think about the legitimate marketers that this will impact. Is it worth it to have the government regulate more, and emphasize personal accountability less? Most of us (not ALL of us, but most) know that giving up our email address means we will receive emails from a third party. Why else would someone ask for it? Unless I have been misinformed, or simply lack the attention span to read entire articles, this seems like governmental nannyism if I've ever seen it (Nannyism isn't in the dictionary...yet!).

On the other hand, this may slow down the train of cheap marketing efforts (by cheap, I mean low-to-no printing/mailing costs), evening the playing field for print marketing? Have online marketers been getting away with this for too long? Will this help unemployed graphic designers, pressmen and bindery workers? Will this help the under-the-weather print industry? Tough to call at this point...let's see if it happens.

I think it is obvious to most folks in-the-know that printing is slowly becoming a dinosaur. Even with all the "super perfector" this and "Staccato screening" that, the price in this economy can seem too steep. Especially when, instead of spending $500k on some catalogs, you can simply PDF it and put it on your website. But will it have the same effect?

As things become increasingly web-oriented, we are losing the tangible aspects of what was once everyday life. Phone books, catalogs, news papers and even magazines are in decline. I can understand phone books. Those ten-pound bastards take up way more space than my iPhone or even my notebook PC and performs less functions. But there's something to be said about sipping that hot cup of coffee as you open the sports section in the morning. The Sunday afternoon on the porch with the latest issue of Home&Garden. The youthful anticipation of the monthly Victoria's Secret catalog.

There's a tangibility there that we humans crave. We might simply like to receive interesting mail. We might like to clip interesting photo's and make collages. In any event, we like paper. It may not be PC, but paper is what we are used to. We'll find new sources for making paper. That is inevitable. Take the synthetics like Yupo. Isn't it possible to, like everything else, find cheaper ways of producing a stock/paper like that when it is in high demand?

Printing might be slowing down, but it won't die. It will be more dignified. It would become more refined. I can imagine crazy new coatings that will dazzle the senses, not just of touch but of smell, taste, etc. Super-Duper Smooth stocks you could bowl on. We need printing...and it needs us. Bad.

We all heard about budget cuts, layoffs and the like due to this struggling economy. What I never understood was, during times when consumer confidence is low and consumers spend less, why marketing budgets are easily cut...sometimes the first to get cut! Shouldn't firms be pouring more money into market research, website marketing, marketing materials, etc. flood their target markets? Right now, this economy presents a tremendous opportunity to step in and convert consumers who were once loyal to a competitor. It is a time to invest in a library of images for your products, beef up that mailing list and get creative with the marketing materials. Invest in your photography, graphic design and web design and hit them hard. There are sales to be made!