e Chapter 1 e Inside the Marketer's Head A different way of thinking o think like a marketer, you must first understand how a marketer thinks, so let's peer into the mind of this distinctive breed of creative and ana- lytical types, and combinations thereof. Marketers run through life with their minds wide open. They operate from a big-picture perspective while still keeping their eyes on the finest de- tails. They are optimists, always seeing the glass as half-full even when it is completely empty. They see opportunities everywhere and they strive never to leave anything on the table. Marketers are bold in thought and swift in action. They move with ur- gency, pouncing on every good chance knowing it could be gone in a click. They aren't afraid to make the call, ask the imposing question, and "go there" when necessary. Marketers are confident, persistent, and fully dedicated to their cause no matter where it takes them. Marketers become smart people readers because they are avid people watchers. They are curious, anxious to see what's happening, and what's happening next. Their unquenchable thirst for understanding, and some- times a little nosiness, puts them often in the right place at the right time-- sometimes by strategy and sometimes by luck, though luck is always part of the strategy. Marketers ask questions--lots and lots of questions. They turn the tables to peer in from the other's perspective, understanding that it is the "other" who makes their job interesting, rewarding, and necessary. Marketers live and operate on the fringe. They are weird, odd, off-center, out there, and generally different from the rest. To them, conformity is to be avoided at all costs. They love to stand out and they will do anything for attention, as long as it's the right kind of attention. e T 17