Taking Stock

For many, the holidays are a great time to take stock. This sort of naval gazing fuels the sale of everything from exercise equipment to diet programs to programs designed to promote fiscal fitness. This propensity for reflection reminds me of a question my mother recently asked, "Do you count your blessings?" The answer: you bet I do.

Let's face it: I doubt anyone grows up hoping they'll work in the direct response industry. Yet somehow, despite its Wild West nature or perhaps because of it, this business gets under your skin and after you've dropped stakes in the community for a while, the alternatives seem like dullsville. I know this from experience, having spent last year riding around Silicon Valley, where many of the inhabitants live secure lives fenced in by stock options that provide salve for scrapes incurred from slipping on the corporate ladder. In contrast, our world of direct marketing personifies the American Dream, where anyone can make it. Now that world is intersecting with the most entrepreneurial denizens of the aforementioned Valley as consumers migrate to the Internet, sowing new fields of dreams.

But what does it mean to "make it"? In modern society, wealth and fame seem to have supplanted health and family as the primary barometers of success. This creates a relentless restlessness that infects all of us in different ways. Hence, the successful pitchperson feels trapped and hits the bottle too hard, the TV actor wants to make feature films and the movie star can't be happy unless she's a chart-topping singer. We may achieve success, but how we perceive the scale of our wealth and acclaim and whether we choose to be satisfied with it are matters of perspective and choice.

At ERA's annual gathering in October, we witnessed Cindy Crawford, Leeza Gibbons and Susan Lucci, three women who have reached the summit of their respective modeling, hosting and acting careers, testify that they have chosen to leverage their success to enter the direct marketing field. Their goals: to empower women and, sure, make a lot of money. It would seem that things have come full circle.

Being secure in your decisions requires balance. It is a tight wire act and an act of faith that each of us performs in one fashion or another. In an industry laden with formidable risk, some wires are stretched tighter than others. But if we take the time to cultivate a network of caring relationships that transcend the ability to make money off of one another, one can only hope that there will always be a net to catch us, should we find ourselves falling. Our circle of direct marketing is merely a backdrop to the larger arena of life. When the face paint comes off and we look in the mirror to take inventory of our blessings, our real foundation is revealed.

Rick Petry is the immediate past chairman of ERA and a freelance writer. Recent projects include advertising copy for AeroGrow and the development of a book, "The Suburban Field Guide," based upon his blog of the same name. He can be reached at (503) 740-9065, or via e-mail at rick.petry@gmail.com.