Fall Ahead

Fall is greatest time of year to be a marketer. With the holiday horizon coming, potential and current clients have money to spend and more reasons to spend it. It’s easier to motivate clients in the fall, and that’s really the hard part of this job.

I hear more of this: “We’ll find the budget” and less of this: “We don’t have the budget”. Fall is truly the time when the bounty of creative ideas are harvested.

I remember starting Instrument. I wrote the plan during the Summer, worked at Orvis to make money and get free gear, lived at home and mowed the lawn to earn my keep. I planned to launch in the Fall, because it seemed like things would be hopping. What I did not account for was the time it took to get the word out. Needless to say it was a lean, quiet winter in the Chickenbone penthouse that year.

I denied myself the basic necessities of TV, Cable and Playstation until I reached a certain level of sales. It took almost a year to get Playstation and when I did, sales stagnated. (Hmmmm..) My SOCOM2 skills blossomed though, and I logged many hours achieving Commander rank with my men.

I should have launched Instrument in the Spring somehow, so I could dial my contacts, processes and get some business rolling right when the bounty of Fall returned. My advice to you is get your shit together in the Spring and Summer, lock up your business in the Fall, let it ride through the Winter. Once January 1 hits, everything changes at every company. It’s a new year, with new budgets and new board directives to spend less on copy writing and marketing even though you know the company needs it even more. You know it!

Fall in Vermont was always my favorite time. Contrary to common notions, autumn in Vermont is a time of growth and renewal. The mountains get brighter, the air gets crisper, the wind blows fresh and the fishing turns on again. Not only this, but everyone else in Vermont decides it’s time to hibernate early, and leaves the great outdoors open for the taking. Very few people fish in the Fall, which is why it’s a great time to be out. I HATE being hot, so it’s even better. Fish are hungry ’cause they know the ice is a-comin’. Even the streets downtown seemed quieter back in Burlington in the Fall. For me, Fall in Vermont was about snowboarding anticipation, Jake’s party, and hungry bass. There was usually one last spurt of energy before the freezing, bleak darkness of December set in.

When Spring rolled around in Vermont, things for me slowed down. Everything got muddy, it got hotter, everyone was leary of the coming oppressive heat and humidity. There’s about a month of great, dry weather in the Vermont Spring, usually between May 15-June 15. Other than that, I’d take Fall all year-round, which is basically how it is here in Portland.

Spring back. Fall Ahead.