ABOUT THE MARCUS LETTER
A mind at rest tends to remain at rest; a mind in motion tends to remain in motion
The purpose of THE MARCUS LETTER ON PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MARKETING is to address the most serious issues facing the professional and the professional firm today …
How do you keep your firm relevant to the dynamic marketplace of the 21st century in a competitive world defined by new technology, new economics, new regulation, and a clientele for professional services more sophisticated than ever before?
How do you understand, define, and reach the market you serve today, and want to serve tomorrow? In a world in which all professional firms have the same marketing tools and the same ethical constraints, how do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
How do you compete in an arena where everybody is doing the same thing?
How do you compete in a profession in which you can’t say, "We do better audits," or "We write better briefs?"
These are issues that must be resolved if practice development and firm growth can be achieved to your firm's satisfaction.
In these past few decades, since frank marketing for professionals first became legal, a body of techniques and experience has been developed. But that body of knowledge and experience needs constant nurturing, with large doses of imagination, of challenge, of inquiry. Is the way we did it yesterday still the best way to do it today? Or should we open our minds to new ideas, and not merely rehash the old ones? Certainly, the future of good competitive professional services marketing lies not in the mechanics alone – the tools – but in the strategy. And strategy is our major focus.
That is the role of THE MARCUS LETTER – to challenge, to explore, to keep the marketing skills relevant to the needs of the new competitive environment. To establish and maintain a flexible strategy for a dynamic economic world. The needs of today’s professional services clientele are in constant flux, and will be served only by fresh ideas and innovative strategies. The aim of THE MARCUS LETTER is to help ferret out those ideas, and present them to you -- to help solve those problems – not by merely restating the textbook solutions, but by striving to find ways to achieve imaginative and original strategies that really work.
THE MARCUS LETTER is not simply a primer on the basic tools of marketing. It is not a rehash of material on basic techniques that can be found elsewhere – there’s now too much good stuff on basics around to waste your time on it here. My aim, as editor, is to bring fresh perspectives to using those techniques -- to address the dynamics of a rapidly changing economic and professional environment, so that the thoughtful professional can better thrive and compete in a very tough competitive environment.
The motto above is not, for THE MARCUS LETTER, hyperbole. We are really concerned with going beyond the mundane to constantly seek better ways to do tomorrow what was done yesterday. THE MARCUS LETTER, then, seeks to be a publication that challenges – that reaches. In today’s dynamic and competitive market for professional services, the mind in motion is your best competitive weapon. We aim to feed that mind in motion.
One more point. Everything in THE MARCUS LETTER is written from either my own experience – I’ve been doing this kind of marketing for a very long time – or from the experience of people I know to be original and thoughtful at it. Theory is great, but it won’t be passed off here as gospel. Opinion will be marked as opinion.
And don't hesitate to participate with your own views and opinions. See So You Say...
Bruce W. Marcus
marcus@marcusletter.com
THE MARCUS LETTER is intended to provide information on marketing techniques specifically applicable to marketing and strategic planning for professional and financial services. Its content reflects the experience and opinion of the editor and contributors, and should not be considered, or relied upon, as professional advice in a legal context. On professional ethics issues, readers should consult their own counsel for specific advice. © Bruce W. Marcus. All rights reserved. Reprint by permission only.
Editor - Bruce W. Marcus