Convergence - 3:29 pm on Jan 8, 2013 (gmt 0)

Nothing more than an evolution to your business model.

In 1998, my business partner and I, were old school type sales people. Knocking on doors, making phone calls, attending trade shows, etc. The internet was still very new and virtually no one in our industry was using it personally, much less professionally. Our industry was made up of "fat, old, white guys".

In six short years there were some serious powerhouses in our industry who went from B&M to C&M. Two short years later and the industry was mainly online only. Margins went from 50% to selling at cost and working on rebates - everyone in the industry became whores.

Back when we started out marketing onine our website was nothing more than another marketing channel - a virtual pamphlet or brochure. Traffic came from the likes of AOL, Yahoo, Alta-Vista - but ONLY after someone took our business card, printed material, or word of mouth advertising and typed www.ourwebsitename.com into AOL's, Yahoo's, or Alta-Vista's search box.

Over the years marketing has changed, always has changed. Is changing again. Just like us "old-timers" had to learn to embrace the online world, have become addicted and perhaps "lazy" with the free traffic we have been receiving for a decade, we have to adjust again.

There are those that have known nothing more than receiving free traffic from the Google. These people are the "old-timers" now. As we (the old-timers in 1998) had to learn to add online marketing to our marketing channels, they have to learn to add other channels to their marketing. We all do.

Nothing more than an evolution to your business model...