When people ask me what I do, I usually tell them that I “explain technical stuff to non-technical decision-makers.” For the past 20 years, I’ve been writing and designing messaging, collateral, web content, etc. on subjects ranging from enterprise content management to opsonophagocytometry. All that means is that I know a little bit about a bunch of different things. But what I find interesting is that when I meet new prospects for our services, they invariably want to determine how much I already know about their industry and their business. That’s natural I guess, but with all due respect, I’d like to suggest that asking what I or any other marketer already knows is the wrong question. A better (meaning more profitable) question is to ask how fast I learn. Sure, prior knowledge shortens the learning curve. But so does the ability to learn quickly. Accelerated learning, under the guidance of my clients, points me directly toward what I really need to know—now. Testing that knowledge against what customers think and want provides the best assurance that we’re all on the right track.

—Matt Arozian