You paid the fare—make sure you arrive
The most important concept in strategy is commitment. Not a commitment to do the same thing forever. Not a stubborn resistance to change. But a commitment to truly give a direction your all.
The most important concept in strategy is commitment. Not a commitment to do the same thing forever. Not a stubborn resistance to change. But a commitment to truly give a direction your all.
Why do we put off marketing work we know we should be doing? The fact is, if we aren’t confident an action is going to create positive results, we won’t do it. We’ll procrastinate. We’ll avoid it. We’ll make excuses. It’s not because we’re lazy, it’s because we’re scared.
2020 is a year of anxieties for everyone, business owners included. And a particular strain of anxiety I’ve noticed is over competition.
Everything we do in our business either reinforces or damages our market position. Including, or even especially, how our product works and looks.
My favorite cognitive bias is called “déformation professionelle.” Basically, we see the world through our jobs. It’s a bias I certainly have. I see everything through a marketing strategy lens. Often, that just makes me a boring conversation partner. But, sometimes, it actually helps.
When we meet with a new client, a very common sentiment is a sense of anxiety that pervades their marketing. Some say they hate it. Some say they like it, but it stresses them out. Others have just been trying to ignore it, or let someone else handle it.
All of us can get caught in the trap of believing we can simply work our way out of trouble. Hustle culture has taught us that the answer to any given problem is to throw time and effort against it. But the truth is, if you’re going in the wrong direction, going faster doesn’t help.
As business owners, we can quickly forget about the good things that happen, and how they happened. The danger is in forgetting what made you successful in the short-term, which denies you the opportunity to notice patterns that will create success long-term.
If you’re looking to build more profit in your business and create more freedom in your life, you need to make sure you’re making meaningful progress, day after day.
Every great decision you make comes with downsides. There is never a perfect answer.
Just what is my marketing actually doing for me? What’s the point? The purpose of your marketing, from here on out, is to reinforce your position.
If you want things to change, you have to try to change things, and that entails assuming the risk that things might not go the way you want. Every plan is a guess about the future, and sometimes our guesses are wrong.