I'm tired of the words marketing and strategy. People with status issues are scared of being called a salesman and yet at the end of the day that's what business is all about - selling stuff. Lets set aside the decades of trying to elevate it above its station and cut out all the c#@p that lets charlatans and the poor of talent waste our time and money.

Metrics - there's another red herring. Marketing agencies across the world are looking enviously at the self confidence of management consultants and investment banks and drawing the conclusion that solution to their insecurity is metrics. The possibility that this fundamental error may need to be explained is a very depressing.

The great heroes of selling stuff were the wild west preachers. They had belief! Their strengths weren't necessarily traits that nice people would like to foster in their children but they sure shifted the product. Bluster, bravado, charm, self aggrandisement, self belief they had it all and they rolled up their sleeves and took it to the people.

I've been reading a little about WOMM (Word of Mouth Marketing) and like it, not in its entirety but mainly because it draws you back to the roots of selling stuff, the back-to-basics facts of commercial life. It also takes you back to the traditional oral roots of communication, to story telling and 'family' groups.

This way of approaching sales will grow in importance as the social trends surrounding web 2.0 develop. As the approach to sales moves to meet the emerging social demand it may feed back into changes to the supporting corporate culture.