Interesting question, isn't it? Should a marketer be more successful at starting a business than a non-marketer? Why do so many marketers fail at doing their own thing? Just last month, I heard of a good marketer who couldn't make it as a marketing consultant - an "own business". What does that say about their skills? And about marketing in general? Is this a classic case of not being able to practice what you preach? Does it maybe expose how useless marketing is as a business function - when it can't even help an expert build their own business? Or could it point to an age-old suspicion that marketing does not impact sales, and sales is what ultimately drives business. Many marketers try and fail at business. Does this stain the field's reputation? Marketing isn't business A full-funnel, strategic, 4P marketer undoubtedly understands many parts of how a business works. They appreciate that there's a process involved in attracting, informing and conver

You don’t do marketing because you want to.  You do it because you want to grow.  Marketing is a grudge. The goal is to grow. Businesses postpone a serious investment in marketing until they can no longer grow or find that they have run out of options. It becomes a case of “What do we do now”? And the answer is, unfortunately, “marketing”.  But here’s the good news… I firmly believe marketing, more than any other business function, should make an impact.  Finance doesn’t make an impact—they just ensure you follow the rules. HR (or whatever it’s called these days) makes no impact. They simply keep the dam wall from bursting.  Sales don’t make an impact (I said that); they harvest what’s available—picking the low-hanging fruit.  Manufacturing just makes stuff. Fill orders. IT maintains your firewall and prevents you from experimenting with cloud solutions. There’s only one function that makes an impact or that can make a real one —marketing. Marketing must make an impact.  It must b