Last Fall I taught a new class: Marketing Information Technology. At first I loathed the preparation for more of a “hard skills” versus a “soft skills” topic. I’m more of a soft skills communicator and ideas guy rather than a numbers man. However, I do like the math of marketing and realize how important it is to run the numbers before you launch a new product. Numbers matter. They act as a reality check. They wave their hands by sounding the alarm bells. Numbers don’t lie.
The preparation for this new class started slow at first. I felt a bit stuck and robotic, but I kept reading, planning, and reading some more. Finally, after about one month of working and reworking my ideas and approach, it’s starting to gel. At first it just seemed like delivering the required goods. Now, it’s starting to feel like a new creation. I think this class could create some careers, land some students jobs, and help my consulting company and my clients. It jogged my memory and took me to new lands I had traveled, but had forgotten the beauty of the canvass good numbers can paint.
I’ve also been using Excel lately to do revenue model analysis for a new client. It’s a powerful tool and forces you to put a solid financial model behind your marketing campaigns. Excel helps to generate well though out marketing campaigns. It creates an analysis method to your marketing madness. Make sure Excel becomes your friend.
By Stuart Atkins
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