Yes, my posts have been sparse these last 6 months, I admit. The carousel of life threw me off, and when I tried to jump back off it threw me off again, whirling so fast it took a while to catch up and jump back on. Only, I’m not the same person I was.

Optional Growth: Last summer I decided that in order to grow, my business needed to change. I decided to narrow my “high-tech” niche to that of just business intelligence. It’s my space, it’s what I know. I’ve been a consumer of the very marketing pieces I am now creating. I decided to revise my own marketing message and website. Well, the stars aligned or the planets collided or something like that. The Universe decided I had some personal growth to do as well. After 20 years in the same house, we decided on a whim to downsize and sell. Eight days later, our house was sold and we were packing. That whole event set me back for the summer and things like this blog suffered from lack of time and attention. It was now September and I was ready to jump back on the carousel, but I guess I wasn’t done growing just yet.

Forced Growth: On a warm Sunday evening in early October, everybody was outside socializing, including the dogs. In the blink of an eye, I was changed forever when our dog Lily was hit and killed right in front of me. I was devastated and in a daze for weeks. Like a flower that has been trampled, I struggled to sprout again. I’m finally back to work and have finished the launch of my newly redesigned website.

Growth and Your Business: Growth is often optional – to a point. In business, we can sit back and continue to do the same things for a long, long time. However, even if the world sat still, our business would wither. And, with increasing external pressures from changes in technology, global marketplace, legislation, politics, and the economy, growth is really not optional.

As the end of the year draws near, it’s time to reflect. How has your business changed and grown? Are there areas you have become complacent in or have you embraced new challenges? Have you had the luxury to choose our opportunities or have they been thrust upon you?

Even the best laid plans hit roadblocks. You just have to be ready to regroup and take the detour.

Just a quick one to provide you the link to my interview with Ajay Ohri from DecisionStats. In the interview I talk about trends in the business intelligence space, how marketing for BI is evolving, and a teeny bit about corporate sustainability (one of my personal interests). Hope you get a chance to read it!

http://www.decisionstats.com/2009/09/02/interview-terri-rylander-advanced-marketing-collateral-bi/

This week I had the opportunity to attend the 2009 Tableau Customer Conference. Tableau is a business intelligence company which is my niche and they specialize in visual analysis and data visualization. I struck a deal with them to do some conference blogging in return for a press pass. Something you might want to think about for your own B2B niche.

Anyway, I must say I’m thoroughly impressed with this company. They are relatively small but you’d never know it. In this tight economy, with travel budgets clamped down, they still managed to get over 300 attendees, half again what they had the previous year. And, their customers are passionate about their software. The conference has been very successful at staying in touch with customers and keeping them engaged.

Tableau does a great job marketing without being over the top. They reach their customers and prospects at their level. Their website is fairly simple but has all the information the web visitor needs. They have a full-time web analytics/search marketing manager who provides input into the web design, helps with web testing, and works to rise Tableau to the top of search results.

They also continue to touch but not bombard their customers with their newsletter that comes out every other month. Another way they stay in touch is through Twitter. Their employees regularly use Twitter and their company Twitter handle is active as well.

In fact, what impressed me most was how passionate and happy their employees are. From the CEO, Christian Chabot, to the VP of Marketing, Elissa Fink, down to the sales staff and developers, they have fun. And what I know is that happy employees make happy teams that make great products.

Bottom line, you are always in the eyes of your customer so make sure they are seeing the best side. Find ways to show them your company’s true personality. Tableau has obviously done that.

If you’re curious about Tableau’s data visualization software, check out their beginner’s guide to data visualization.

Marketers today are spending a lot of energy trying to do more with less. We’re running around, trying to keep the sales staff happy, trying to create content that stands above the crowd, trying to measure title effectiveness with split testing, trying to prove our ROI to our executive team, all with less money and headcount. If we’re not working on a corporate marketing team, we’re trying to find and convince prospects to use our services, trying to stay up with the latest social media trends, and competing with thousands of other independent marketers or agency marketing teams. Needless to say, these are stressful times.

A few weeks ago, I asked Can B2B Marketing Be Fun? and now the “fun” mirror has been turned back at ourselves. That’s why when I saw this video, I thought, “I just have to share this! My marketing friends need a good belly laugh.”

I found several things I could personally relate to, especially in a corporate setting. I’ve seen people (not just marketers) do what they could to look both smart and busy. I’ve seen them hustling around the office with an heir of importance. I’ve heard them claim to be double and triple booked with appointments. I’ve seen them excuse themselves from meetings to take a phone call (from their friends, no doubt). I’ve seen them use buzzwords du jour to sound like they fit in. I’ve worked with these people – they really do exist.

On a similar note, one of my favorite TV shows is The Office. I can pretty much identify someone I know in every character. I’ve seen every one of them in some capacity during my career. I think the producers of The Office should hire the marketing guy in this video – he’d fit right in and they need a marketing person.

Anyway, all of this is just for fun. It’s a chance to laugh at ourselves. I’ll bet you found something you can relate to like I did. Perhaps you even saw a bit of yourself in the video. I’ll leave you with this last thought, “Are we more alike than dare to admit?”