In the end, I think getting a signed contract with a new client requires trust. You can trot out any data that you want, but if they don't find you likable/trustworthy, it won't matter.

Our best, longest client relationships start with someone saying "We just really liked the way you spoke to us," or "You made this stuff make sense." That's as much about earning the potential client's willingness to listen as teaching them.

That said, it helps a lot if you can point to their data and say, "You could have X more traffic/dollars. All you have to do is handle these four things..." Clients want this kind of specificity, if possible. I'll often simply divide revenue from Facebook by Facebook fans and say "Look, one Facebook fan is worth $.75. That doesn't seem like much right now, because you have 1000 fans. What if that became 100,000?"

You need to connect the rankings to revenue, or the social media presence to audience to revenue.

It's really, really hard to get large teams to change what they've been doing for years and head off in a whole different direction. Especially when we're saying it'll take 3-6 months to see the real returns.

But larger organizations are much more patient. They're generally more self-aware, and understand that big changes take a long time. They also have more resources. So I've found that the advantages balance the challenges.

Yes. In spite of everything, the online marketing world still believes there's a magic formula. They still believe there's a fixed number of good links or bad links in Google's mechanical brain. And very few marketers understand how important infrastructure - your site's performance and stability - is to your marketing campaign.

Most marketers still believe bulk wins out over quality. That drives them to seek out $10 per article services. Do you think Zappos pays 3 cents a word? This is at least half of the problem.

The other half: Writing is like diagnosing illness. Everyone seems to think they can do it without expert help. Fortunately, bad writing won't kill you or make bits fall off. But it hurts your organization. It creates a kind of miasma of 'meh' all over your web site: You generate zero value over and above the products you sell. Unless you sell something completely unique, the 'mehasma' (I just made that up) turns you into a commodity.

If you're not prepared to spend $300+ on a basic, 400-word blog post, then you're going to be disappointed.

Sadly, I don't see this improving in the next decade. Business budgets will always be tight, and writing is generally one of the first things that gets outsourced at a steep discount. But I'm a pessimist on a good day, so take my predictions with a grain of salt.

Glad you like the generator! All credit goes to my team - they built the whole thing without me :)

It's an interesting time to ask me that question. Portent's gone through a lot of change over the last two years - all of it good. But it still presents challenges: A bigger company means I don't know people as well. It means folks who are used to working as half-manager, half-contributor have to make a difficult transition. And it means that little problems around day-to-day stuff can feel like world-ending crises.

I've thought a lot about what gets me through rough patches. Bottom line, it's my belief that communication makes extraordinary people capable of doing extraordinary things, and that I've got a group of those people.

Corny as it sounds, this belief is what drives me. It makes me a boss who's simultaneously a royal pain in the ass due to high expectations and an undying fan/supporter of my team and clients due to their awesomeness.

A small inflatable dome with flush toilets, my own rover and a nice view of Valles Marineris would be nice. Mars would be an awesome retirement spot, what with the low gravity and all.

Otherwise, Seattle seems awfully good. If I could maybe build a bunker on a small San Juan island, and spend my days playing Starcraft 2, cycling and making bad jokes to my wife, that'd be pretty ideal, too.

I prefer them prepared as pancakes, with a side of bacon. :)

There you have it - Ian Lurie, folks. For more of his delightful personality and insightful digital marketing expertise, visit the Portent blog.