"Did You Say Something?"

About two years ago, a hearing test revealed my hearing was greatly diminished in the higher-pitched range, such as a young girl's voice. "Ahh, that explains it," I thought, since I could barely hear my high school daughter speak.

So I bought a hearing aid that can eavesdrop on bats in a distant cave, only to find out my daughter had quit talking to anyone fitting the definition of "her parents". The return policy on used hearing aids would not be considered lenient.

Here's a typical afternoon conversation. "How was school?" I ask.

"Good", she says.

"Any tests?"

"Nope," this was clearly one question too many, so I decide to go out with a bang.

"Did you know there was a rabid platypus going through your purse?"

"Nope."

And the one-word (or less) answers come, until I consider mild electrical shock as a conversation starter, and finally stop, exhausted.

Contrarily, she has phone service that includes 'unlimited texting', and I'm pretty sure she's on the "Unlimited Text Watch List" for nearly reaching that number. She texts constantly. While she's doing her nails, she can actually text with her teeth. It's remarkable. And disturbing.

As a marketer, I see no slow-down in clutter, alternate communication and mild disdain for "advertisers" attempting to shoe horn messages where they don't belong. DVR allows us to skip those awful advertisers (who pay for the programming by the way) and the chances of luring a frenetic facebooker in with a paid 'traditional' ad are as likely as a congressman clipping coupons.

This behavior has affected all age groups. Your ability to effectively reach them has been grossly affected:

The 'average' texter sends or receives 180 per day. Average online user visits 40 websites a day. Checks email 45 times a day. (Not a typo.) This isn't just "kids" either, since only 29% are 25-34; the fastest growth is in the 55+ age group, who are also the largest of all age groups.

And they're all buyers. All potential customers of yours. The drop in lead generation is not your imagination.

The market has changed. It has moved. It buys differently. It communicates differently. And the 'old way' is not coming back. You're either on the front edge making money or on the back edge playing catch up. Here are 4 Steps to Push You to the Front...