The Benefit of the Internet
It’s amazing, isn’t it? Within a matter of minutes you can now send mail at almost zero cost across the globe. Even better, within that short time, you can also get a response.
I am sure many of you have initially questioned the use of the Net as a combined communication and commercial medium, but let me tell you about my current experience, which, incidentally, was spurred by Marketing Competence.
One day I was perusing the newsgroup misc.business.marketing.moderated and came across a posting by Bob Paajanen, Director of Marketing at Mid Canada Trucks and Services. (Update: Bob is now working for SLMsoft.com in Toronto.) Bob was looking for database marketing software, so I mailed him to let him know of a product that could be of interest to him.
Since then, communication has increased dramatically and also resulted in me exploring some commercial issues for Bob here in South Africa. Bob, on the other hand, was an absolutely amazing help to me in putting together a recent proposal, because finding like-minded experts in South Africa who are willing to spend time on helping you isn’t a really easy task.
Then, a couple of weeks later, I received a mail from Brazil reading:
Dear colleagues,
As a similar firm with hq in Florianopolis, Brazil (with another office in Asuncion, Paraguay), with actions in the southern markets of South America, we are very interested in exchange experiences with you. Please confirm your interest in a mutual partnership.Best Regards
Emilio Cerri Neto Dialogix
Since then Emilio and Bob have been helping each other, Bob and I anyway, and now I am also assisting Emilio in his database marketing endeavours.
Within weeks a network has been created, spanning the globe, centering around a mutual interest and design philosophy.
Under normal circumstances, these contacts would not have happened so easily, and the quick establishment of professional and personal relationships would have taken much longer.
So, there we go, using the Net as our voice and our mutual interest in Database Marketing and Relationship Management to help each other unconditionally.
To me, it has been an absolutely mind-blowing experience, and in a way it has become a dream come true. All the effort that went into Marketing Competence and DM-Digest has finally paid off. And I am sure nobody is more happy about this than my new friends Bob and Emilio.
As a final comment, I claim that anyone who is not benefiting from the tremendous opportunities on the Internet, is suffering from a wrong mindset and attitude. There’s so much to learn and so much to gain. But it depends on you – not the technology – to make it all happen.
December 1999 Update: As I sit here updating and relaunching this site, I feel compelled to tell you that I am doing this from Florianopolis, Brazil, from Emilio’s house. Only a couple of weeks ago, I visited Bob in Toronto, Canada. It shows that the Internet is not this faceless monstrum, but if handled correctly a medium that enables us to meet face-to-face, and to nurture and grow personal relationships.
In fact, my entire two months long trip, which started in Dubai, and had San Francisco, Caracas and Miami as further ‘stop overs’, would not have been possible without the Internet.
Both conference presentations in Dubai and San Francisco originated from the Internet. Bob and Emilio are Internet contacts. It surely isn’t the rule, but at least for us it has been an amazing experience!
