People fall into the excess advice trap too often, thinking that success is just one good tip away.
The real-world doesn’t work like that.
The best advice is EXPERIENCE.
And the best experience is failure. Why failure? Because failures are the ultimate teaching moments. They sharpen your skills, and they guide you forward because you can’t go back.
But success also demands hard work, practice, repetition, and a thirst for knowledge.
There are no shortcuts.
Sure, you can always find a few exceptions to the rule, but you can’t bet on being the exception.
Some of the best advice I received was when I was a young sales rep for a commercial printing company. I had been hot on the trail of a huge publisher whose name you would instantly recognize and finally secured a plant tour.
If I could secure the sale, the annual contract value would have been 8 figures.
It was a big deal.
And I was feeling very confident because we had just installed a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line printing press that would print the publication. During the plant tour with the Publisher, I pointed out each and every feature and benefit of the new press, thinking it would surely impress the Publisher and put us in the best position to win the contract.
After the plant tour and on our way to converse more about the deal over lunch, the Publisher turned to me and said, “Warren, let me be clear here, I don’t give a shit about your new printing press. If the damn thing served cappuccino on top of everything I still wouldn’t give a shit. All I care about is making sure our magazine delivers on time, every time, at the same level of quality we have today.”
That was a $10 million education. Lesson learned!
I’m thankful for this advice as it completely changed my focus and understanding – it’s not about me, my company, our equipment, etc., it’s about them, the customer, their needs, hopes, fears, and desires.
Allow me, if I may, give you some sage advice that I learned through failure and experience – if you’re going to market telling the world how great you are and how your product and service is the best, you’re doing it wrong.
They too, don’t give a shit.
Think of it this way, everything you sell is “medicine.” The objective is to alleviate or eliminate your customer’s problems.
Make them BETTER.
A better customer will lead to a better you.
Leverage
Too many brands, business owners, and service professionals like to spread their marketing budgets among various media – social media channels, Google SEM, radio, TV, direct mail, print magazines, billboards, and other digital.
It’s what the marketing buzzards have preached all along – diversification and massive audience reach.
Every strategy involves trade-offs. If you do this, you can’t do that.
The most important and impactful marketing tool is LEVERAGE – and that’s precisely what you trade-off when you try and cover all of your bases.
LEVERAGE is about concentrating your marketing in a way that creates a multiplier effect. It allows you to increase your input-to-output ratio.
This is how you turn LESS into MORE.
Find your signature marketing channels and triple-down on them so you can “own” the medium you choose.
Pick the channels that are most relevant and give you direct access to your target audience.
The rest is math.
It’s about frequency and repetition.
Leveraged marketing accelerates share-of-mind with consumers and it’s the fastest way to build and grow a brand.
STOP trying to be seen everywhere a little and START trying to be seen on just a few places a lot.
Make it your new marketing habit.
You’ll love the results.
To your success ~
