It's Just Business

"First of all, congratulations on 20 years! That’s big."

--Debra Neville, J.D. Associates

It was great hearing from so many current and former clients this week in response to my postcard announcing the upcoming 20th anniversary of my freelance writing practice. Of course, to some people the postcard, the self promotion, and even the client relationships themselves are all "just business."

So why not say it's just pretense?



Of course it is business. What else do you call defining a company's core value proposition and linking it to a market need in a compelling way? That is my business. And what kind of marketing communicator would I be if I did not publicly mark a 20-year milestone? We are all our own clients, after all.

Over the years my clients have written some pretty big checks to me (and many small ones too) that no one forced them to write. All they got back in return were some words. When you think about it that is pretty amazing. It is also impossible if everything about it were just pretense.

But if you feel more comfortable believing that the business of telling (and therefore learning) the truth about colleagues, clients and their customers is just business . . . please feel free.