Welcome to a Marketing Genius in the Making

Those of you who do any public speaking will enjoy the following story. It demonstrates how we never truly know who is in our audience ... or whose life we might touch with our presentation.

About six months ago, I gave a 45-minute presentation on "Bootstrap Marketing Techniques for Your Non-Profit Organization" to a group of YMCA executives and staff. It was a good group, fairly energetic and tuned-in. I felt like I did an "OK" job as a presenter--not the best, not the worst. In fact, I recall that it was a very short, compressed presentation, and I recall feeling pressured by the time constraints of distilling a two-day curriculum into a meaningful, one-hour dose.

Fast forward to the present. I received the following e-mail message from a young woman who had attended that presentation. I have changed the name and some of the other information to protect her identity.

My name is Jane. I am the [title removed] for the Tri-County YMCA. I would like to let you in on a little bit of background about myself and the reason that I am contacting you. I am a thirty-two year old wife and mother of two. I chose to be a stay at home mother during the early years of my children's lives knowing that when they were older I would still be young enough to pursue my education and career. That time is now! I am working on my fifth year at the YMCA, within those five years I have worked in several different departments. Three years ago I became the [title removed], and last November I was promoted to [title removed]. Needless to say my career has been growing fast. One and a half years ago I enrolled at the local university on a part-time basis, and began taking general ed. classes not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. When my co-workers and I attended the conference in Charleston, and you spoke on the elevator pitch and bootstrap marketing my interest was peaked. I since then have changed my major to marketing. I am working towards an associate degree that can later flow into a bachelors degree, so thank you for inspiring me. The one thing that I am actually looking for is the title of one of the books that you recommended. You read some passages from it. The book discussed the different generations, what they had experienced, and how to appeal to them. I would love it if you could send me the title of that book and any others that you would recommend either for interest reading or research. I am very excited about hearing from you. Thank you for returning my call.

Sincerely, Jane

We just never know who we might touch in our work ... where it might happen ... or whom it might be. That's why it's important to always put your heart and soul into everything you do, whether at work or otherwise. And hey, if your work involves one of your passions, it can be pretty easy to do!

Won't you please join me in welcoming "Jane" to the marketing profession. I'm sure that she is a marketing genius in the making!