Concepts and Quotes: One Big Day
Last week was a fairly short piece on the “One Big Day” problem, with no quotes or external references. Today, here’s a dive into some of the ideas, models, and quotes that informed my thinking.
persistence
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The Perfect Strategy
If you ask anyone how to create a successful business, there’s a good chance they’ll say: “Talk to customers.” And, they’re right. But, if you don’t know what your best customers actually value most about you, you’re likely to optimize for the wrong things.
You can’t skip this step
Today’s newsletter is, hopefully, applicable to everyone, but it’s specifically focused on small business owners and consultants. No one else—no agency, partner, or consultant—can care more about your dream, your business, or your marketing than you do.
Marketing never fails.
Marketing never fails. It just stops. It stops because we ran out of money, enthusiasm, or patience.
“Stop the willpower madness”
Marketing efforts don’t fail. They stop. Like New Year’s Resolutions, our marketing efforts simply peter out and fade away over time.
Your marketing won’t work
Your marketing isn’t going to work. At least, not at first. It’s something I call “The Principle of Expected Failure”.
How I’ll get what I want this year
I used to think the secret to getting what I wanted was to have an ambitious goal, to state it publicly, and to exert as much effort as I could in that direction, as fast as I could. But I was wrong. That doesn’t actually work.
It’s a slip and not a fall
At the age of 49, only a few years before being elevated to the presidency, Abraham Lincoln considered himself a flat failure. And on that evening in 1858, after watching the election results come in at the telegraph office, he walked home defeated.
It merely failed
The future is a mystery to us all. And that means the greatest risk is in assuming it isn’t. In assuming our plans are perfect and won’t need adjustment.
When in doubt, land long
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong had a decision to make. The Lunar Module’s onboard computer was guiding the craft toward a crater’s edge, and a field of boulders “the size of Volkswagens,” according to biographer James R. Hansen.
If you can’t see the goal, set a pace
With the New Year now upon us and ambitious goals set, or resolutions made, we’re entering a dangerous period of disillusionment. The first shock may come when we realize we don’t suddenly have more energy or motivation this year than we did last year.
You can’t bully yourself to better marketing
Frankly, entrepreneurs and creative types tend to bully themselves. Not because they don’t know what to do, but because they feel like they know exactly what they should be doing, but aren’t. Or can’t.
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