Recently, there has been a flurry of activity with business owners approaching my partners and me about implementing various Internet marketing strategies for them to profitably grow their businesses. It’s a very welcomed flurry to say the least but just like everything else, there have been some eye opening inquiries, too.
The projects getting the most interest of late have ranged anywhere from simple website redesign all the way to perpetual product launches that include automated follow up sequences with integrated websites that specialize in continually launching a product or service. There have also been quite a few projects that involve “traditional” SEO work.
All good stuff that’s a lot of fun!
There have been some head scratchers tossed into the mix that I’ll attempt to transition into a learning experience through the use of a couple of metaphors that you should understand fairly well.
The Beacon that Lost Power in the Middle of the Night? Hardly!
One thing that always pokes through with business owners that DON’T take action is that they’re looking to nitpick everything to the point of indecision and paralysis by analysis. Most entrepreneurs and business owners got their businesses started by being decisive and taking calculated risks … being action takers!
Somewhere along the line, entrepreneurs lose sight of the “lighthouse” by becoming too self-important or believing they can do everything themselves (i.e. the “Superman Complex”) much more cost effectively than anyone else on the planet.
An easily recognizable set of symptoms when entrepreneurs and business owners allow themselves to get way off course include:
- Typically requiring in depth explanations of every strategy & tactic
- Line item pricing on everything
- Multiple proposals for extremely similar projects
- Overly detailed scopes of work … the rationale is that if there is enough detail in the SOW, they’ll be able to implement everything themselves without paying an outsider
- Frequent conference calls to discuss the same items repeatedly
They are like a ship out at sea that was focused solely on getting to the lighthouse only to deviate off course to the point they rationalize the lighthouse “must have lost power” … not that they got so far off course the lighthouse became invisible.
The First Fork in the Road for Most Business Owners
There almost always comes a time where a business owner becomes downright confused and overwhelmed about how to best grow their business.
This is one of the first forks in the road many entrepreneurs experience.
I see it everyday … I have experienced it myself on several occasions because marketing isn’t as easy as most people perceive it to be. The more you want to accomplish, the more complicated it gets. It’s not all about catchy slogans, combining nice colors together to create a flashy piece of creative, developing a funny video that becomes viral overnight, hosting fun events, etc.
Not to boast or brag, but it takes some serious mental horsepower to dig into your prospects’ brain, figure out what they’re thinking and why then determine what will get them to pull their wallets out of their pockets to spend money with you instead of your top competitors. That’s not something most business owners thought about when they started their businesses. A look at the number of business failures every year proves that, right?
Today’s Business Owners … Pilots?
Today’s business owners are a lot like pilots sitting on a taxi way waiting for the control tower to tell them which runway to proceed to in order to best reach their desired destination.
A monumental problem arises when the control tower instructs the business owner (pilot) to head to the proper runway to take off because the pilot chooses to argue with the control tower about the price for taking off and landing.
How ridiculous does that sound?
Now, other flights have to be delayed, re-routed, and inconvenienced all because one fussy pilot suddenly has a change of heart after boarding passengers onto the plane and getting clearance to take-off because of … pricing?
What just happened here?
The control tower simply gathered the information about where the pilot wanted to go then instructed him how to best get there within the flow of the other planes scheduled to takeoff and land.
The pilot wasn’t concerned with pricing when he requested clearance for the runway because he was solely interested in the destination and the best path to get there, right? Why did price become an issue when it was time to head to the runway?
The question begs are you like the pilot arguing with the control tower over things that matter very little in the grand scheme of things, or are you truly interested in the destination?
Which Marketing “Airline” Would You Choose?
When you’re looking to fly your business to prosperity, doesn’t it make sense to book a flight with someone that’s able to get you there safely and on time?
Just think … the more you argue and nitpick over pricing when it comes to profitably marketing your business, the further away you get from your desired “beachfront” destination.
PS–Just like Southwest, bags fly free on all our flights! 😉