Remember last week when I talked about “The Art of Marketing” conference in Toronto?

Mitch Joel, author of the new book Six Pixels of Separation, and also one of the top 100 on-line marketers in the world, announced on his blog he was going to have a contest.  Mitch said he would give away two tickets to the event and two signed copies of his new book. Mitch is also one of the speakers at this amazing event.

The rules of his contest were simple:

“To win this pair of tickets and the free books, all you have to do is leave a comment below with your thoughts on what it takes to be a great Marketer in 2010. I’ll choose one winner who really exemplifies passion on February 16th“

I have my own ideas on what it takes to be a great marketer in 2010, so I figured, I’ll enter the contest.

What did I have to lose, besides a few minutes of my time?

As it turns out, my answer exemplified the passion they were looking for because yesterday, I got an email from Mitch telling  me that I had won. My response had been chosen.

Here’s what I said (I’ve cleaned it up a bit since my original response was a tad messy….I was writing  in a bit of a rush as I went out the door)

3 Steps To Being a Great Marketer in 2010

Here’s what it takes to be a great marketer in 2010.

A great marketer….

• “cares” instead of  “sells”.

Old marketers will teach you tricks like how to write clever sales copy or how to write a proper headline.

A great marketer, in 2010, is able to spread this exuberance and touch people through the art of caring.

A great marketer realizes, in 2010, that a genuine fan of one is greater than a thousand drones and a 0.03% conversion rate.

Great marketers now give a crap.

A great marketer….

• is socially responsible.

No longer does “fake-it till you make-it” work.

2010 is about honesty and transparency. A great marketer doesn’t take on the client who doesn’t believe in this. It’s not only about the pay. Great marketers, in 2010, understand the importance of social responsibilities.

Social responsibility, within your marketing efforts, is  equally as important as being socially responsible towards the environment.

There is no in-between. You either litter or you don’t. You either give a crap or you don’t.

There is no toeing the line.

A great marketer, in 2010, is socially responsible for all his/her actions.

A great marketer, in 2010, understands that all marketing is done for the good of the people (even if it’s one person) and not the almighty dollar.

The dollars will follow those who do the greatest good.

A great marketer….

• (and most importantly)  has giant balls. (yes ladies, you too)

A great marketer, in 2010, takes chances while still maintaining an intense social responsibility for all her/her actions. A great marketer doesn’t sit in the slow lane or drive in the middle of the road. A great marketer doesn’t colour within the lines. A great marketer, in 2010, takes chances and has giant balls. The marketer understands that  multiple failures is the only option for great marketing.

The questions is, do you have the balls and are they enough?

That’s it. That was my answer. Hope you like it.

I’ll review Joel’s book after I receive my copy.

To find out more about Mitch Joel check out:

His Website: TwistImage.com
Twitter: twitter.com/Mitchjoel
Wikipedia: Mitch Joel