Nice To Finally Meet You

Hello, my name is Juan Garza and it is nice to finally meet you. My first blog, finally! I have been somewhat of a procrastinator and like many people; I didn't know where to begin. So here we are and you might be asking yourself, why should I be reading what this guy has to say? To answer this, I think it is very important for you to know who I am.

These days I am a college student attending Texas A&M International University in Laredo, TX. I am in my last semester and graduating in May of 2012 with my BA in Business with a concentration in Marketing. After working in customer service for many years I realized that I had a certain talent (I think so) in communicating and being able to relate with customers on a personal level.Ever since I was in high school, I wanted to be a sports agent, so I thought what better move than getting into marketing is there?

 I made the transition from the working man to the full time student, the rough life. College at first hit me right in the face and I remember feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. The first semester was probably the toughest as it probably is for most students either going back to school or being first time college students. Well you probably guessed the rest since I started this blog off by telling you I graduate this May, I made it! I know a lot of people graduate and get their bachelors but I have to admit, if feels really good to accomplish something you set your mind to. Barring the outcome of this semester, I may even graduate with honors. I currently work as a marketing consulting for a company called MS Project Pros and eventually would like to pursue my dream of being a sports agent. Who would have thought, Juan Garza, Mr. Slacker in high school would grow up?

Well enough about my life story, what I really want to get into is what I have to write about. You guessed it, marketing! I created the Marketing Mix to inform the average person who doesn’t have the time, the money to take marketing classes, or the desire to read really long books about marketing tactics. I think the knowledge that I provide will be beneficial not just to those that do not know anything about marketing but to those that may think they have a grasp on marketing and to the interested in reading about different marketing tools, tactics, tricks, trends, and the evolution of marketing.

Marketing may mean many things to different people and most believe that marketing means selling or advertising. Although selling and advertising are a part of marketing, it is far more complex than placing advertisements in a newspaper or a billboard. Marketing provides consumers with both tangible and intangible need satisfying goods and services, and in doing this creates customer satisfaction.

 Where to begin? Marketing is so complex and has evolved from the times when a person would go door to door selling you kitchen sinks or direct mail techniques and billboard ads to the technological driven social media approach. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think that using traditional marketing tactics is still very powerful but with the evolution of technology and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, marketing has never been as easily accessible to the small business owner.  The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large".

The main change to the former definition of marketing that the AMA points out is value and customer relationships. It is obvious from the changes in the market place and the economy, that it is important to offer the consumer both value for their hard earned dollar and to offer long lasting customer relationships. It is vital to any organization whether for profit or non profit, that they are able to offer their product in a way that the consumer sees as valuable and in a way that establishes a trustworthy relationship that the organization can continue to improve. We all have seen the changes in the marketplace go from successful brick and mortar stores to successful online power houses such as amazon.com and e-bay.
 
Companies have shifted from offering a tangible location to the intangible online market known as a market-space. The success from companies using a market-space is evident and has grown dramatically due to their ability to recognize the change in the consumer mindset and the technology driven environment. Marketing is a powerful tool, should be used by all organizations, and communicates positioning, what the organization has to offer, and most importantly how the consumer benefits from using the products offered by the organization.

I plan on providing a website that will make all those marketing tools,trends, tactics, and tricks (No I don’t mean ways to fool people into buying your product) available for free use. For those that follow me @jjgarza3 on Twitter or are my friends on Facebook, you may have noticed I throw in the #YouShouldBeMarketing tag at the end of every Tweet. Well, my site which is still under development, YouShouldBeMarketing.com, will be accessible to anyone who is interested in knowing more about marketing, benefits of marketing, and many different marketing models including the development of marketing plans, consumer behavior models, and up to date content marketing articles will be made available.

 Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog and feel free to leave any comments about my blog or marketing in general. Share your knowledge because nobody knows everything and everyone can learn something. Stay tuned for more on the Marketing Mix.

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