Typical issues include the continuation of business models as well as sales and marketing programs that have become limp remainders of what they used to be. Very basic examples in the sales and marketing arena have symptoms that include dependence on non-working outreach: large commitments to print industrial directories or yellow pages, networking through local chambers and other organizations that haven’t updated their thinking or memberships in years, cold calling for rareified services, and keeping salespeople who cost more than they bring in. More problematic instances involve selling products that have become overly expensive compared to foreign knock-offs, perpetuating processes or technologies that are being washed over by tidal waves of newer ideas, and trying to get more and more work from fewer and less prosperous customers. The most intractable problems are faced by companies struggling to sustain a business service or product line that is – well, today’s typewriter. Products are becoming obsolete faster than ever. A glance into the computer graveyard in vSA’s storage room (or perhaps your own) is ample testimony to this reality.

The need for tough solutions and big shifts in business practices has altered vSA’s work as well, making it harder and yet more rewarding. Marketing is certainly enjoyable when we bring exciting new sales and opportunities. Today, rewarding and fun strategic marketing has married the stern face of business consulting. This partnership has become crucial because when clients call upon us to develop programs to build their sales and market share, we occasionally see that structural changes to their business processes, model or offerings are required before outreach is appropriate. Our work begins further upstream, supporting change to meet the spoken and unspoken needs of the client’s prospects, customers and other influentials.

So, that’s where the courageous consultant comes in. Just like a physician telling a patient that change must start with quitting drinking, losing weight or controlling his mood swings, vSA professionals do the right thing by helping clients build or rebuild for the wild and crazy future. In those cases, we don’t simply put a bandage on the client’s offerings and start marketing whatever we’ve got. Not when the stakes are so high for our client.

I’ve gone through major life changes in the last several years, including the passing of a spouse, the growing up and (successful) moving on of my two sons, the closing of one company (a stock photo firm) and the happy growth of van Schouwen Associates into broader areas of public relations and interactive marketing work.

I’m left with lots of work to do… and ten books to write. I read a question recently: what is so important that it keeps you from living the life you want? (Or, in the echo in my head, “writing the books you want to write?”)

In fact, there can be situations so important that you need to sacrifice your own desires and life plans. The trick is to decide what situations qualify. I suspect that we often give priority to needs and demands we’ve outgrown. Such as my need not to do the research that will allow me to progress on any one of my ten books. On a recent vacation, wandering around Key West, Florida (I recommend that as a way to change your perspective, for sure!) I encountered the book Quit Your Job and Move to Key West. I resisted buying it and hope no vSA employee will get any ideas. It was the underlying premise of the book that really caught my attention: who says you can’t make radical life moves? Alter something fundamental?

Even if you want to keep your job (sure, I do too) it’s great to think about your life plan, and the quality of your days. Are you enjoying yourself? Spending your time on things that make you happy or are useful – or both? Having the courage to change and grow?

Challenge your assumptions, even the ones that seem too solid to re-examine. News flash for the settled, middle-aged or complacent among us: Taking risks can be a great adventure. People have asked me where I get the nerve to be an entrepreneur or take other risks I’ve elected to assume. Well, I start by asking what the worst case scenario will be if things go wrong, and whether I can face it. (For example, “I could end up living in a cardboard box…” then I decide well, okay, that’s really not very likely, and I guess I can deal with less drastic downsides that are more possible).

Not everyone’s dream is the same, obviously. While one person wants to leave the proverbial rat race, another wants to build a tech empire. Or write ten books, or maybe just finish developing that one book. Or get divorced. Or find someone to love. Develop an organic garden. Live in a happy place. Adopt a teenager.

What’s yours?

It goes without saying that our company has not yet qualified for a bailout, so we must slog on with making a profit.

We used to make phone calls to key people at companies we thought we could help – and then we talked with people on the phone. Strangers! It took courage. It used to work.

This calling thing appears to be pretty much over.

Let me ask you: how often do you take probable-solicitation calls from strangers when you’re at work? If the answer isn’t NEVER or ALMOST NEVER, you’ll probably want to add a caller ID feature to your phone.

So cold and nearly cold sales phone calls are teetering toward obsolescence. FINE, who wants them anyway? Ah, but what replaces the classic cold call for companies in which selling is sometimes a one-by-one process? Bringing people to your door to ask to work with you or buy your stuff? Emailing? Psychic messaging? (Okay, scrap that last one…)

Think of professionals who never advertise but who are always busy. They’ve built a reputation for excellence – and it wasn’t an accident. It likely took ongoing outreach, networking, PR, climbing the Google ranks, nurturing of word-of-mouth, viral marketing, and more.

It can be really hard to change the way you sell things. But take some time to think about this New Age of outreach.You know the saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. How ARE those sales phone calls going for you anyway??

Start building a business reputation that opens doors so much better than the ol’ “My name is Milton Kong and I’m calling to ask you….”

Change is a pain. C’mon, admit it. Unless you’re one of those hardy, adventurous souls who’s currently stuffing your backpack for a long trip to the Arctic – oh, yes, after quitting your job and kissing your family goodbye, that is. The rest of us, sad to say, prefer the comfort of driving the same route home from work most days. Even if we hate to admit it.

Well, here’s news. Obama and McCain are mouthing the right words. “Change is coming!” Etc. Only thing is, the changes they’re promising probably aren’t the biggest curves ahead. Don’t spend your tax break yet.

No, the changes ahead will be more profound. Our basic confidence in the great economic engine isn’t gone, but it’s shaken. People are actually thinking about (next time) buying homes they can afford (and heat), about the merits of state colleges for their own offspring, about getting a smaller car, wearing a sweater (mittens??) at home this winter, and perhaps even buying less stuff in case times get worse.

The amazing thing? This may be all for the good. In our rush to trash our planet, we in the U.S. have consumed oil and gas, cows and fish, plastic, and ice cream (oops, that’s just me) at a truly alarming rate. What we’re seeing now is LIMITS. Limits that will prod us toward changes we’ve resisted, as a nation, as businesses and as individuals.

As in…

-All that money Wall Street was flashing around? Lots of it was fake, a bubble, a myth. The way it was “made” was something no one really understood, and now much of it is gone – actually GONE.

-Peak oil? How many of us have skimmed the articles and turned the page? Yes, Virginia, we will run out.

-Spending as fast as we earn? Oops. Not so smart.

I don’t think the American way of life is doomed, or that we’ll be living in huts in the dark anytime soon. Instead, I think we’ll need to look at how money, honest money, is actually generated and at how our incredible inventiveness can help us come up with technologies and systems for a more sustainable, perhaps more sensible, world.

It could be fun. Really.

Gumby knows how to bend with the times.

Well, the candidates take it a little far, and tend to be transparent at times. Since yesterday, McCain and Obama have become deeply, deeply concerned about regulating Wall Street. Also, McCain has shrugged off his “experience matters” overcoat to embrace the clearly untested Palin. Obama is sweating to shed his image as an “elitist” and become dearer to the working folks whose votes he so badly needs.

Sure, it’s nauseating to watch. (I said “train wreck”, did I not?) At the same time, I think our illustrious candidates have a lesson for Wall Street.

Think fast! Act quickly! Change when conditions demand it. And most of all, stay agile. Sinking behomoths like AIG are simply too massive and sleepy to respond promptly when market conditions demand.

Responsiveness is one area in which smaller businesses, or larger ones with smaller, “independent” units, have the winning edge. Although maintaining more credibility than a politician…. is good too!

But I don’t feel dismal. Not at all. I’m an optimist, so I’m exploring the boundless potential of creative, out-of-the-box thinking to change – well, anything.

My conclusion is this: conventional thinking isn’t going to cut it for long. Not for leaders or intellectuals or business people or parents, or…

May I suggest a great movie about creative thinking and quantum physics? (don’t be scared; if you know less about physics than I do, I’d be amazed): www.whatthebleep.com