One of the most important lessons to learn in marketing!

If there is one word that equals success in marketing today it's not:

• social
• publish
• market
• advertise

I could go on and on and list hundreds of words. There are two keys to success in this era:

#1: Be the customer. Be the customer so well you know can describe your customer's likes and dislikes, what they are interested in, what trends appeal to them. I'm not talking about what comes from a research project, I'm talking about you---listening to and observing your customers.

When I produced local TV newscasts many years I rode a bus to work so I could sit behind the driver and listen to what passengers and the driver were talking about. When I arrived at work, the people in the newsroom were isolated. They thought they knew the customer. I had just spent an hour listening to customers so I knew exactly what issues (i.e. what stories) they were interested in---and our share of audience shot through the roof.

Now for #2. Can you guess what it is? It's one, simple, powerful word. And if you think you do this you're probably wrong. If you do do it, you don't do it enough.

Here's Gary Vaynerchuk with the answer:

Listen.