I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about what it is to be a marketer, and what marketing really means as we approach 2010.  To be honest, I’m not entirely sure there ever was a simple definition – even before we all went digital and our lives, both working and professional, became 24/7.  And, if you ask 20 different people, you get 20 different answers – take a look at how experts define marketing, including Guy Kawasaki, Forrester’s David Cooperstein and Kodak CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett.

Mastering communication, driving consumer behavior, anticipating client needs, engaging audiences – these are all part of what it means to be a marketer.  While there are indeed niche marketers and those who specialize and excel in a particular kind of marketing (direct, brand, online marketing), for many of us, the ‘Jack-of-All-Trades-Master-of-None’ label is one we wear proudly in 2009.  Today’s marketer proudly wears many hats – copywriter, SEO expert, social media activist, PR liaison, budget consultant, you name it.

Part of the fun, and the frustration, is that marketing is never boring.  No two days are the same and very rarely do two projects have the same outcome.  But is this a good thing?  What’s wrong with predictability and stability?  It’s simple – because our audience and customers, their needs and expectations are unpredictable and ever-changing.

The last year has put a unique set of challenges upon marketers, and a less-than-stable economy forced us to do more with less.  With budgets slashed, resources cut and opportunities limited, we were challenged to come up with new and better ways to boost brand and generate leads, even if our piggy banks weren’t, well, overflowing.

The point is this:  we are in marketing because it challenges us and forces us, each and every day, to come up with smart decisions that will serve our companies best, today and tomorrow. We plan long-lead campaigns and we turn around dynamite copy on the fly.  We work the trade show floor and manage the Google Adwords campaigns.

Crazy?  We are.  Hectic?  It is.  And we marketers wouldn’t want it any other way.