A Brief Marketing Break: #NicheAmnesty and 14 Things About Me

Stacey Herbert started a Niche Amnesty challenge on DIYBlogger last week and asked bloggers to share a more personal side for a change. To stop with the sales, the marketing or the technology, and share a bit more about who we are when we don’t put on a public face.

Thank you, Stacey, for sharing this challenge, here is my #nicheamnesty contribution.

1. I am a Christian, a family man, a marketer and a gardener. But don’t expect to hear a lot about my family. They are an important and a private part of my life.
2. My Christian outlook has a strong influence on my view of marketing, something a number of people have assumed need to be at odds. For an example of this influence, see the bio I use on Twitter.
3. For near-suburb dwellers, we have a sizable garden (but I don’t think its large enough).
4. Food is important. Organic is good, whole foods, raw foods and live foods (such as yogurt and kombucha) are even better.
5. I’m analytical. I started my career in analytical disciplines. My nickname in an earlier job was “Numbers”. Although my focus on numbers has evolved, in business, information still fuels me.
6. I am not a heavy consumer. We do not have a television, we read almost no magazines. Almost all of our information comes from online and old fashioned books. Libraries are wonderful places.
7. I’m more anxious to start than to finish. Taking on a limited number of projects and ensuring I see each one through is a constant challenge.
8. I’m a thinker. I enjoy working through conceptual problems and tend to digress to the theoretical. For me, theory avoids the trap of always repeating the mistakes of the past and forces today’s situation to be assessed from the ground up. But in today’s “I want it NOW” marketing environment, few have the patience for this and I think the industry suffers for it.
9. I enjoy intellectual challenges and my career in marketing has afforded me many opportunities to take on brand new disciplines in marketing. For example, I was one of the first people at any of the large ad agencies to place an online exchange buy from one of the first fledgling trading desks.
10. Many say I’m cheap. I prefer to say I’m focused on value. Both views are probably right. When I put on a media planning and buying hat, this and my analytical side drive planning.
11. I’m passionate about marketing that serves the audience and helps the audience make the right decision. My Christian outlook and modern marketing trends are converging here, and I love it.
12. I have no traditional training in marketing. In college, I studied Math and Economics, and joined an investment bank after graduating. I landed in marketing by chance, looking for a small startup company to join. The one I choose was a digital agency, and it just fit.
13. In my personal life, I’m always running behind. I haven’t filed my taxes yet. A #nicheamnesty post a day late is the most appropriate way I can possibly communicate that.
14. I believe social media should be about being social and developing relationships.

With that, I’ll close and ask you to share a little bit about yourself, in a blog post, on Twitter, or in the comments below. Because we don’t develop relationships by just broadcasting.