Michael Martine says generalists are better than specialists, and makes a convincing case. Has this ever happened to you?

Take SEO (search engine optimization) and web design, for example. You hire an SEO specialist after you hired a web designer who you thought knew everything about web design. In your mind, you lumped in a bunch of stuff in with “web design” that your web designer was clueless about.

After all, a web design specialist does not study SEO. He or she studies web design, and that’s it. You later find out you have zero SEO, and you’re ticked off. Now you hire yet another specialist who is going to do all kinds of changes to your site and other things you don’t understand. if this stuff had been done as part of the original design, you would have saved thousands of dollars.

Of course, he’s making a sales case for himself, but his point is right on. There are many times when it is good to hire a specialist and that’s exactly what you need. But if you are just starting out in business, or you are just making your first foray into Internet marketing, which is new territory for many small business owners, then what you really need is a guide, a generalist who knows how to get around in the field. There is more than one reason for this.

Michael pointed out of the reasons, which is the ignorance of specialists regarding other specialists specialties. But sometimes it’s not even ignorance. It could be differences of opinion.

You’ll run into some specialists who do things one way and another specialist who does things another way. Neither way is wrong, they’re just different, but they don’t go well together. You need someone who can reconcile the differences, someone who can analyze your situation and determine which direction is the best way to go - and sometimes that direction is between the paths of the two specialists.

What it all boils down to is directorship. Who’s going to run the program? Can you? Do you know enough about the different specialties of online marketing to direct the show and not end up lost? Most small business owners can’t do that. That’s why they need someone who can communicate across specialties to steer their business in the right direction. A director can tell the web designer not to include certain code, or to place it in an external file when it needs to be, based on the SEOs recommendation. Then she can convince the SEO not to be so adamant about the use of image files like Flash because in small doses and appropriate optimization techniques those elements can be implemented successfully. Your director doesn’t have to do the work; she just has to know how it should be done so that she can direct those who will do it. And if that’s the kind of expertise you need to steer your business in the right direction as you make the transition online, well then I’m your girl. And the best part is, I’m knowledgeable of online marketing and traditional marketing so I can help you integrate the two. Ready?

Marketing has been around a long time. Without it, most businesses would never have survived. Though I’ve met some business owners in some towns who say they’ve never advertised. I guess their service is so good their customers just talk about them. That’s the best kind of advertising there is - and you don’t have to pay for it.

But most of it, even if our service is darn good, still have to pay for some form of marketing.

Traditional marketing works. So why abandon it, right? Internet marketing works. So we should use it, right? Well, it depends on who you talk to.

The key to any kind of marketing, of course, is effectiveness. The bottom line: Will it increase your ROI? Traditional modes of marketing like the yellow pages are being replaced rather quickly by online versions of the same product, except that the online version is much more flexible and versatile and has the power to increase ROIs tremendously more by reaching a broader base of people interested in your core product or service. Other modes of Internet marketing are doing the same thing. But this is no reason to assume that small business owners should abandon traditional marketing streams.

Sure, you can give up on some of those methods. If you find that your reach is declining through certain traditional marketing methods that you used to see gains on then that could be a sign that it’s time to try something different. But there are still traditional marketing practices that work. That’s why I recommend something I call integrated marketing.

Integrated marketing is taking the best of traditional marketing and coupling it with the best strategies from Internet marketing to tailor a marketing strategy that works for your business. We will examine your business model to see what you have done in the past and to evaluate your current marketing blueprint. If something is working for you then we won’t change it. But if it isn’t then we can find something to replace it, something that will increase your ROI.

Today is the day to look at changes to your marketing plan, changes that could propel you into the 21st century and reach more customers with fewer dollars. Find out how now.

Doing a little online marketing doesn’t mean you have to abandon your traditional marketing efforts. No matter what you do online, you still need to reach at least a segment of your target marketing through off line marketing means. I suspect that you always will.

Newspapers have been around a long time. People didn’t stop doing newspaper advertising when radio came around. They added radio advertising to the mix. The same is true of television. They didn’t stop their newspaper and radio advertising. They simply added TV to the mix. And that’s the way advertising is developed over time. You don’t have to abandon the tried and true methods. Just add the newer ones to your advertising efforts.

But don’t do this overnight. Do it gradually over time. In other words, run a few tests first to see how you do. If it doesn’t succeed then you’ve lost a little, but not much. Also, try tweaking your test and running another. Just because you tried it once and it didn’t work doesn’t mean it won’t work the next time. Try to learn what the successful people are doing in the new advertising medium and emulate them.

Online advertising does work. Like traditional advertising, there are certain principles that work better than others. Learn the successful principles to your advertising efforts - online and off line - and add it to your mix.

Throughout most of the 20th century, marketing came to be known as its own science. In some circles, an art. Marketers learned from the businesses and market leaders who came before them - people like J.P. Morgan, P.T. Barnum, and traveling hawkers became the model for sales and marketing teams all throughout the U.S. As technology became more of an influence in the business world, marketers began to adopt these new technologies - TV, radio, the telephone - to market their products and services to the ideal customer. But they didn’t stop using the tried and true methods of the past.

Well, thanks to the Internet, there are new technologies that marketers can adapt to put their products and services in front of customers. That doesn’t mean you should stop using the methods of marketing that you are currently using and have been using for most of your life. Those methods still work.

Particularly at this juncture in history, the old and new methods of marketing should be seen as complimentary and work side by side. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, members of that generation will continue to rely on their ideas rather than the new ideas of younger generations. Traditional marketing methods will still need to be employed to reach that generation. But the new media opportunities that are presenting themselves today are more effective for the younger generations. That’s one reason integrated marketing is desirable.

But it’s not the only reason. Marketers have always segmented their target markets. The reason this is effective is because different audiences require different approaches. And if you can figure out how best to reach a particular segment of your market then you should use that method of delivery to get your message out. Today, some of the biggest users of new media online are in the 40-50 age group. That means you can still reach them through online marketing if your marketing message is effective and carefully packaged to appeal to that group.

Integrated marketing is the next wave of online business marketing. While online marketing works for some groups, it doesn’t work everywhere and for everyone. Even younger generations still read magazines and do off line shopping; you’ll still need to reach them through traditional methods of marketing. The big question is, where - online and off line - do they hang out and what kind of media and message will get their attention?

Would you tell one person about your business, but not tell their friend standing on the other side of you? Would you invite someone to dinner without inviting their spouse? Of course you wouldn´t! So why would you stick to marketing your business offline when there is a whole world of potential customers online? Integrated marketing is the key to reaching as many clients as possible.

While traditional marketing is still a very good thing, it certainly isn´t the only option out there these days. No business can work to its full potential without taking advantage of integrated marketing, since the internet opens up so much more to you. Even local online advertising can be a huge plus for your business!

Integrated marketing doesn´t have to be terribly complicated. Just setting up a blog or website online can be one way of starting to branch out. You can use online ads, but there are plenty of other methods of gaining publicity as well.

The essence of Internet marketing is to reach different markets according to their preferences. Yes, you can save money by using e-mail instead of direct mail, but if you sell products that are primarily targeted toward the 65 and older market, you’ll have a heck of a time trying to get them buy from you through e-mail. So Internet marketing may not be the best strategy for you.

On the other hand, if you are targeting 18-25 year olds then direct mail is much less effective than e-mail marketing and web-based marketing strategies. The younger generation is much more web savvy than the Baby Boomers and a lot more trusting of the technology.

But what if the product or service you offer has no generation-specific market? If your product or service has mass appeal and could attract the attention of anyone of any demographic then you should consider all forms of marketing as possible. Integrated marketing is making sure that all of your marketing communications are consistent and convey your core message while adapting it to fit the medium, technology, and preferences of the target you want to reach through that medium. Integrated marketing will become a staple in business simply because the subsets of your target market are more savvy consumers than previous marketing audiences and because they have different needs and desires. Address the needs and desires of each target market you want to reach through their preferred communication media and you’ll be a successful integrated marketer.