As I was preparing for a presentation recently, I was
trying to figure out why small businesses have trouble
marketing themselves consistently. If we know we need to be
marketing, why don’t we just do it? Is it for a lack of
planning or that we’re just not sure what to do or where to
start?
Yes, maybe. But in trying to figure out what those hurdles
are that keep us from marketing consistently; I came up with
two hurdles that I think might be as big as any other for
most. Like a lot of things with regards to our business, if
we’re aware of the hurdles that keep us from achieving
effective marketing, then we can plan and act accordingly on
how we can either go around or over them.
So what are these hurdles? Well, they certainly aren't the
only hurdles, but the two I keep running into time and again
with many small businesses are Perfection and Fear of Failure.
In fact, I'm sure they have played a part in delaying some of
my own marketing including the launch of my web site and my
monthly eZine. Let’s take a look at each hurdle and how we
might overcome them.
Hurdling Perfection
Many of us tend to be perfectionist in the things we do. You
might say... "When I put out this marketing piece, it really
has to hit a home run." But because we know that perfection is
really not attainable, it can be a big roadblock to effective
marketing. In our quest to make our marketing PERFECT, we may
never even get a GOOD marketing program in place.
Perfectionism in creating a direct mailing piece or a web site
or an electronic newsletter can result in significant delays
of weeks, months, or even years.
The funny thing is that most of us verbally buy into the
concept of "continuous improvement". But then we often get
stuck trying to endlessly improve before we ever put the idea
into action. The pursuit of perfection in itself is not bad.
But it can certainly result in great failure when we're
unwilling to call an idea "good enough", put it out there, and
then look for ways to improve it and put it out there again –-
until it's perfect, or almost perfect.
If marketing has been a struggle for your business because
you're not sure what works best or where to start, then you
can't expect to be great at it overnight. It's going to take
time. So be willing to start somewhere and learn from
mistakes.
Notice the importance of the pursuit of perfection, or
"continuous improvement". The opposite side of this hurdle is
settling for "good enough". Sometimes marketing is treated as
a one time event and even though it's dull and only yielding
mediocre results, it keeps getting put out there again and
again without ever trying to make it better. What would you
expect to eventually happen to a business that operates this
way?
Hurdling Fear of Failure
I believe the second hurdle -- Fear of Failure is closely
related to the first. For most of us, the notion of facing
rejection or failure is unsettling at best. And because this
whole marketing thing can be an unknown or uncomfortable for
us, we sure do hesitate to put something out there and not
have it be good. If it fails to produce results, we may feel
like we're failing in our business.
Unfortunately, one of the most common approaches to avoiding
failure is to avoid taking action in the first place. Or maybe
just as unsuccessfully, we spend all our time looking for that
magical marketing idea that is going to end all of our client
acquisition problems. I call it the "Power Ball" marketing
strategy. Guess what? It's not out there -- so you might as
well quit looking.
Marketing will take time and effort on your part. But, with
persistence and a willingness to potentially even make a mess
of it with your first attempt, you can succeed! Be willing to
learn from your mistakes and get better as you go.
Do you see why I think the two hurdles are closely related? "I
need perfection, and if it can't be perfect, I will have
failed. And I just hate the thought of failure, so if it can't
be perfect, I'm better off not even doing it."
Let’s look at this using a baseball analogy. Former Kansas
City Royal and Hall of Famer, George Brett, was arguably one
of the best third basemen of all time. And anyone who followed
the Royals in the prime of George Brett’s career would agree
that he was a great, great hitter.
What if George Brett had approached his baseball career as
follows: "When I come to bat, I just hate the thought of
getting an out (or worse yet, a strike out) -- Fear of
Failure. But even more so I'm a Perfectionist, so when I come
to bat I need to hit a home run every time. Therefore, I'm not
even going to swing the bat unless I know that I can hit a
home run because I sure don't want to make an out."
What do you think George Brett's chances of having the Hall of
Fame career he did would have been if he had taken this
approach?
Sounds like a silly example, but are we doing this at all with
our own marketing efforts? Don't get me wrong. I don't suggest
that you just start going up to bat and swinging away.
Marketing efforts do need to be thought out and planned. But
don't let these two hurdles keep you from moving forward.
Take Action To Overcome The Hurdles That Keep You From
Marketing Success
If you love what you do and believe in the results you can
produce for your customers, then you can experience great
marketing success. Be willing to get some help if the "know
how" is beyond your means. It just might be the best
investment you make in your business.
Don't focus on perfection, but rather the continuous pursuit
of perfection. Brainstorm it, plan it, design it, write it,
tweak it, and then GO FOR IT. Be willing to try it on a small
test basis and potentially fail. But only if you're willing to
learn from mistakes. Then improve it and try it again.
Don't settle for "good enough". If you have marketing tools
that aren't consistently producing results, don't just keep
using them (at least not in the format they're in). You may
have to tweak again and again so you can start to learn what
works and what doesn't work. Testing is critical.
Hurdling "Fear of Failure" takes some courage. Courage doesn't
mean you don't have fear. It means finding a way to overcome
the fear in order to achieve some result. Courageous people
get over worrying about feeling like a failure or looking like
a fool, because they focus on achieving the ultimate result.
They are passionate about what they can do for their clients,
and that's what drives them.
I’m sure that someone somewhere has told you to embrace
failures because it's the way to learn the path to success. My
advice is to keep the failures from being catastrophic by
testing. Again, I say test it out on a small basis so the
taste of failure isn't so bitter in your mouth.
On the other hand, if your test works, you can always go back
for MORE of the sweet taste of success.
(c) - Kevin Dervin, KPD Marketing
About the Author:
Kevin Dervin is the owner of KPD Marketing and creator of
the ABCD Growth System. If you find this article
useful, you’d probably enjoy Kevin’s FREE monthly eZine called
ABCD Grow. To subscribe, just go to
http://www.ABCDgrowth.com and follow one of the links to
the FREE Stuff page!
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