What’s not so easy to find? Hard facts and case studies that demonstrate if any of this creates profit on a sustainable basis. Yes, the occasional viral video hits the jackpot, and once and a while a local business scores big on Twitter. But day in and day out? Don’t bank on it.

Online marketing, is just that: marketing. Unless you’re amazon.com, that’s not the same as sales.

Especially for the B2B world, selling is a personal contact sport. Only to the extent that online tools enhance relationships and awareness, can they indeed lead to sales. Same for direct mail, brochures and printed collateral which are increasingly rare and correspondingly effective these days.

You’re gettng word of mouth, referrals and testimonials? Great. Increased credibility and visibility though internet channels? Super Duper! Top of mind presence though e-mail and direct marketing? Very cool.

Still, and especially in tough times, your business must address the question of selling. Not blog posts. Not impersonal e-mails. Not customer service. Selling. It’s a separate in-the-moment skill that has to be carefully woven into the texture of your company.

Taking a lot of time to develop, update and enhance your selling skills, product knowledge, and customer knowledge (and that of your team) isn’t fast, sexy or cheap. Which is precisely why so few companies get it right.

Adobe actively sponsors such user groups across the globe, and incentivizes them with discounts, raffles and educational materials. It’s a win-win and a great chance to network with your peers.

Here’s more information about the User Group Network.

If you’re interested in an Adobe chapter, drop me a note: bill@copiesandink.com

One quote stands in my mind:

“Coming home with 30 or 40 cards is not nearly as effective as having half a dozen [that were from] really good quality conversations where having the business card and the ability to reconnect was important to you,” Ross Parker says. “I think people miss that.”

Do you think business cards are obsolete in the internet era? Let’s hear your take!

“The problem with graphic design templates, is that they’re just that: templates,” I responded. They make your business look like every other business. And that’s deadly for your marketing, be it in print or on the web.

If your marketing looks like it was “cut and pasted” from another company, that’s a clear message: You don’t have your own story to tell. So you just borrowed someone else’s.

Marketer Seth Godin says it well: “There is no roadmap.” If you’re in business, you’re in the marketing business. That means you have to create your own map. You get to define the customer, and the business model. And of course you must design the ad, brochure or business card that communicates that model.

No, I don’t have templates, and I promise I never will. BTW, Neal appears to be quite an accomplished LinkedIn artist. You can find him here.

Print has been getting a lot of bad press lately. Undeservedly so.

Trees used to produce printing papers are a renewable resource. Beyond that, your use of print can actually stimulate the planting of new trees and the protection of forestland. Read about it here.

Another tip: Consider specifying domestically produced paper for your print projects. It’s more likely to have been produced with the environment in mind.

In his new book Linchpin, revolutionary business thinker Seth Godin helps us find the art in our work, regardless of job description. Here’s a 60 second interview about what we can bring to each day of our working lives:

Linchpin Meetup

From Seth: This is first ever unofficial Seth Godin Linchpin worldwide Meetup. It’s a completely non commercial chance to find and connect with other members of Seth’s tribe, an opportuity to talk, challenge, and inspire your fellow travelers.

The first ever Rancho Cucamonga Linchpin meetup will be held on June 14, in the Copies&Ink meeting room. As of this post, we’re up to 7 attendees, but wherever you live, there’s a meetup near you. If you’d like to participate here’s some information.

My parents became American citizens early on and toiled for years to take their place among the millions of workers that helped to build our nation during its golden age of growth. They opened their first company, a modest letterpress shop in Chicago. Dad was a naturally talented artist, and found that this talent served him well in the printing industry. It was a career that lasted over his entire (all too short) lifetime.

Last week, Mom passed away after a long illness. I miss both my parents terribly, but beyond being sad, I’ve also been reflective. Could they repeat their successes, had they touched down in 2010? How will my own son be able to find his way within the new realities of the job market?

The notion of “hang a shingle, work hard and success will follow,” can seem quaint and even laughable in the age of commoditization, outsourcing and double digit unemployment. A college degree is now out of reach for many, and is no longer automatically equated with job opportunity.

Still, I’m grateful for America, the opportunities it afforded my family, and so many others. I’m grateful for a landscape that still seems to egg me on with a hopeful new vision of the future.

Bella Alpert passed away the day after Mother’s Day.

It’s practically child’s play to make a great impression using print. Just take enough time to write some decent copy for your ad, brochure or mailer. That simple practice has become so rare that even a perfunctory effort at story telling gets attention.

It’s really quite daring to step out and tell a story with drama. Much simpler to advertise with leaden bullet points, as if your reader where looking at a powerpoint presentation.

The art of advertising in print certainly goes back thousands of years, and will likely be around even when the internet is a distant, faded memory. That’s because there {hidden treasure} are always stories to tell, for those perceptive enough to find them, and bold enough to write them.

This is a huge problem for small businesses, where marketing gets stuck between a dozen other priorities. Even dedicated marketers within large corporations are frequently are pulled off task, and lose sight of the big picture. Last but not least,  marketing gets stuck in no man’s land: perpetually caught somewhere between the sales and human resources team.

I believe that every great company deserves great marketing. To make it accessible we’ve created a simple system based on accountability. We put a deadline in place, and you’ve got to check in on a regular basis to report progress. Beyond that, the BrandOne Marketing Coach Program is designed to help you get clear about your company and its marketing.

If having your own personal marketing coach sounds interesting, feel free to check out the program in more detail. The Marketing Coach 2 minute slide show covers the philosophy and general outlines of the program, which will be FREE to all participants who enroll during the first 60 days. I hope you’ll join us.

There’s more about our marketing services at the BrandOne blog site.

Selling complex financial products or services based on price alone is a very weak opening gambit. It assumes your readers are unsophisticated, and are willing to accept unlikely scenarios or outlandish claims. On the other hand, this approach works well if you are willing to bet your company on a large volume of buyers who are interested in low end commodity purchases.

Ready to sell on price? Then you should be ready to compete with the Wal-Marts of the world. That means your product comes in cheap on containers from China and/or that your employees are outsourced to an offshore call center. Not you?

Direct Mail is more than ever the premier outreach method for everyone from Mom & Pops to Fortune 100s. It’s just silly and wasteful to use it as a spamming tool.

Why would I want to do business with your company? “Discount pricing” is the same answer all of your competitors use, and they’re as close as a Google search. For most marketers, low price just isn’t good enough, and just the wrong approach.