Colin Earnst
Manager, PR & Communications
ITMSA

1. What's your favorite online and offline industry information source?

My favorite offline pub is the Boston Globe's Monday High Tech section. It gives a good look at what's happening in our local market. Online, I'll usually keep the Industry Standard bookmarked along with techweb.com and ebuzz.org, a news and information portal.

2. What's the best way to keep up with the online marketing trends in the industry?

To keep up on trends you need to be well read and well informed - know what other folks in your market do well. However, if you want to be a trend leader, you must look outside of your immediate market space. Just because it hasn't been done in your specific market, doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that it can't be done. As a marketing professional I'm constantly asking myself why certain campaigns speak to me the way that they do. You need to look beyond traditional boundaries. I borrow from print, radio, television and borrow from industries outside the Internet space. By examining and understanding how and why these campaigns touch their target audiences, I can better innovate the way that I do marketing for my company.

3. What is the most important practice in your "Marketing Bible"?

Believe in what you're doing. Nothing is more compelling than a person's passion and contagious excitement for what they do. No matter if it's marketing, engineering, recruiting, writing, or project management. Sure, you also need to be well informed about what you're talking about. But if you truly want your message to inspire someone, you need to believe in what you're "selling". There is absolutely no substitute for that