One thing I’m willing to bet every Internet marketer reading this has in common is that your parents still probably don’t fully understand what you do for a living.
I can’t tell you how many times my parents (both of whom are highly educated professionals) will inform me that they ran into someone at a party that was “in the same line of work as you are, dear.” When I do a bit of digging, nine times out of ten it turns out that the supposed ‘industry colleague’ they’ve met is actually a Web designer or IT support person.
“For the last time, mom and dad, I don’t build Web sites and I don’t fix computers! My clients already have Websites and IT people. What they don’t have is enough sales or a reliable way to accomplish that.”
At least that’s what I imagine myself saying to my parents, but usually I just thank them for the information and politely change the topic.
I can hardly blame my parents, or anyone else I meet who is confused about what Internet marketing is, when I see how some of us describe what we do. For instance, check out what one agency that I have been told does Internet marketing uses on the “Services” page of their corporate Website: