The other day I posted on Twitter that one of my favorite movies of all-time, The Empire Strikes Back , is now 30 years old. I remarked that this news made me feel old.... a feeling that was re-inforced by the fact that my two-year-old son wears a Yoda t-shirt that I found in the “retro” section at the Gap.

Upon seeing this tweet, my good buddy Zonker (also known as Joe Brockmeier ) challenged me over Twitter to come up with the top five things that Yoda or Darth Vader could teach us about solution marketing. Never one to back down from a challenge, I accepted Zonker's request.

With all due respect to the Star Wars canon and a big ol' apology to George Lucas, below you will find thetop five things that Yoda can teach us about marketing. In my next blog post, I will cover what Darth Vader can teach us.

The quotes below are actual Star Wars quotes that I found using the QuoteMaster. Click on the link to see other good quotes.

1) Grave danger you are in. Impatient you are.
As marketers, one of the biggest sins we can commit is to be impatient.We need to find the right message and stick with it. What frequently happens is that we repeat our message over and over and over until we are sick of it. It's tempting to assume that the market is just as tired of our message as we are. But the reality is that by the time we are sick of the message, the marketplace is just beginning to hear the faintest of whispers about what we are saying. It probably hasn't even fully registered in your users' mind. The challenge for a marketer is to stay on message and not get impatient. Because if you let your impatience get the better of you, then you'll constantly be changing and the marketplace will never know what you or your company stand for. And that's the gravest danger of all for a marketer.

2) Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.
Ultimately, this is a question about how you want to be perceived. Do you want to be positive and define yourself in terms of clear business benefits to your users? Or do you want to go down the dark side and focus on tearing down your competitors and defining yourself in relation to them? It's always easy to define yourself through comparison, just like it's easy for Luke Skywalker to give into his hatred. But defining yourself through negative comparison will never let you rise above the noise in the market. You need to clearly know who you are,what problem you solve and why that solution matters to the customer.

3) Always in motion is the future.
One of the core functions of marketing is to understand the marketplace,what customers want, and to have the ability to peer around corners.Of course, you can never fully predict where the market is going togo, but if you talk to enough customers and partners, you will certainly start to get an idea. A core job of solution and productmarketing is to not only select in which markets you will compete,but in which markets you will not. And then have the courage tostick with your convictions long enough to actually test your hypothesis in the market.

4) Help you I can, yes.
This one is easy. A marketer's job is to explain to your customers in clear, easy-to-understand language how we can help solve a problem that matters. In my industry, too often, we descend into techno babble around speeds and feeds, and we need to degeek the speak. It's all about the business value, and how we can a customer solve their most pressing business challenge.

5) Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
OK, I admit... I couldn't pass this one up. Do you ever wonder how many times a day this line is quoted? To me, this is all about the power of voice.Are you going to be wishy-washy in your approach to the market. When a salesperson questions your market choice, are you going to wilt under pressure. When a customer attacks your value proposition, are you going to capitulate on the spot? When you build a presentation,are you going to use strong, impactful language and drive the point home? Marketing is all about confidence. Confidence comes from preparation. Although I wish it were different, marketing is not rocket science. If you learn about your market, if you learn about your customer, if you learn about the ecosystem, if you do the proper introspection and analysis, and if you write with passion and conviction, then you will be successful.