Comments on: Acorns And Oak Trees

By: Tipping the Scales (or The Dark Side of Blogging versus PR) | danny brown

Tipping the Scales (or The Dark Side of Blogging versus PR) | danny brown — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:36:21 +0000

[...] And, yes, some of it is warranted and trust me, I’m the first to call out bad PR practices. [...]

By: Danny Brown - Social Media PR « Anything Goes with Mikotostar

Danny Brown - Social Media PR « Anything Goes with Mikotostar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:06:25 +0000

[...] giants 100 feet tall who control you, or hundreds of normal sized people who respect you.Danny in, Danny Brown – Social Media PR, Jan [...]

By: solinkable.com

solinkable.com — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:05:10 +0000

Acorns and Oak Trees …

Conducting business should be about relationships, rather than resume building. …

By: Danny Brown

Danny Brown — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:05:35 +0000

Think there may be a bit of a line in front of you, Jason…

But I agree – there does seem to be an opportunity for a meeting of minds and ideas.

By: Danny Brown

Danny Brown — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:02:17 +0000

Sounds like your mentor was (is) the type of guy that many companies need as their guide. Makes you wonder what the CEO in question tells his own people and if they set up their own agency, would they be the same?

This is where the problem gets inherent for many industries – we take guidance from those at the top, who we're supposed to learn from. But what if the teaching is skewed to start with?

By: Jasontryfon

Jasontryfon — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:12:58 +0000

It reminds me of when a mentor said to me when I was in Marketing "I don't care how many awards you win with the ads you make…just bring in money into the front door" At the time many of the large firms only cared about awards and the big client portfolios… he was ahead of his time to look to the bottom line…seems like your lunch mate is still stuck on reverse thinking mode.

By: Jasontryfon

Jasontryfon — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:02:28 +0000

Danny, send him my way. He needs some customer sat and business coaching. All leads welcome sir! HAHAHA kidding – Great post.

By: Danny Brown

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:04:49 +0000

The biggest problem with the views of these ISV's you spoke with, Mike, is that these "largest 10%" are quite often the ones at most risk from recession. They're the ones that are tied to stakeholder decisions; they're the ones with inter-departmental conflicts and approvals; they're the ones that don't care about your relationship either – if you're not providing the way they want you to, you'll be history.

On the other hand, the small-to-medium businesses are the ones that will use you and your expertise effectively, and in doing so, make you a more successful company because of it.

Funny, but a lot of the times, the larger the company, the smaller the thinking.

By: Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:02:55 +0000

Your post saddens me, but is no surprise. I talked to several ISVs about their market strategies a few months ago. All said – we aim for the largest 10% in our market – build and market to their needs. Anyone else is just too small to care about.

I understand marketing $ are tight. I know mass marketing is not cheap. But there are compromises that approach the middle market at least. It is one reason a lot of these companies see no benefit to social media or Internet marketing. They have 10 or 20 companies in their sights and nothing else! To me – it is marketing mules with blinders on…

By: Danny Brown

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:44:05 +0000

All too true yet all so frequently ignored, Suze. Who knows, maybe one day we won't have to have these conversations – until then, here's to the little guys.