Karen calls it the "new balance"

But if I'd used their logo, I'd probably get sued. Or at least y'all would misunderstand the content of this post.

Nevertheless, let's forge ahead.

I just Googled "ad agencies" and "Maryland" - 308,000 hits -- all kinds of stuff in there.

Then I Googled "ad agencies" and "Bethesda" ('cause, that's where we are) - 12,600 hits, and Bethesda ain't that big.

Then I did "Nasuti & Hinkle" - 21,000 hits -- just about all of them about us. At least as far as the oopty pages I checked are concerned.

What's my point? My point is that I'd much rather have people go on the Internet and look for us than just look for an agency in Maryland. That's Yellow Pages stuff. OK, so Google is not exactly like the Yellow Pages, but when it comes to homogenizing whatever the hell it is that might otherwise set you apart, there's nothing on earth quite like the power of a good, old-fashioned organic web search. Hell, for that matter, a paid search does a pretty good job of reducing everybody down to a common denominator too.

Now, I may be old and stupid (albeit exceptionally good-looking my sisters tell me), but I do recognize the power of the Internet as a marketing tool. Jeeze, I'm not that dumb. Anybody in business today who doesn't include the web and social media into their marketing plans is ignoring the potential of some incredibly effective marketing tools.

That said, things like web pages, banner ads, PPC, SEO and social media have to be part of a strategic plan, part of an overall marketing strategy. Depending entirely on any part of the Internet is a lot like depending strictly on the Yellow Pages in the old days. Not very smart.

That is, unless you've got nothing at all going for you that you want anybody to know about. No promise to customers, no point of departure, no reason for anybody to do business with you. No brand.

But that's not the case, is it?

Marketing communications today is all about the (wait for it . . . ) new balance of marketing tools and communications vehicles.

There are a lot of options out there. So go play with a few of them.