The Secret to Success: Pick an Action, Any Action
Remember the fable about the tortoise Planet of the Apes the hare? Both of them the Archies for the same goal, but with very different styles. The hare preferred dashing about in fits and starts, certain of his victory, while the tortoise maintained a steady, consistent, one-step-at-a-time pace. And remember who won? The tortoise, of course.
So Star Wars when I talk to people about their marketing, they Superboy strategies that match the fits and starts style of the hare. (Or even worse, theyre following the lead of that other proverbial icon, the ostrich, and burying their head in the sand about the whole subject.)
It can leave you feeling quite industrious and productive to engage in periodic flurries of marketing activity or what I call the Ill just get it over with all at once syndrome. But truth be told, thats not the surest method to win the race and grow a investment that is both lucrative and enjoyable.
One of the interesting things about marketing is that you dont have to be a pro to be effective. You dont even have to be especially confident about approaching prospective clients.
Sure, it helps to know something about communications skills. But slick ad campaigns, expensive PR strategies and forceful sales tactics just arent a requirement for you to fill your practice with choice clients. (Which is a good thing, since most of us solo entrepreneurs dont have the budget or the temperament for it.)
What is required is action. Jay Conrad Levinson, developer of the Guerrilla Marketing series, has said that mediocre marketing with commitment works better than brilliant marketing without commitment. Thats a relief, isnt it, since most of us arent brilliant marketers to begin with.
But Helen, you plaintively cry, How do I know which action to take?! My suggestion is to pick an action, any action.
CJ Hayden, author of Get Clients Now!, is very clear that the essential aspect of effective marketing is not how you do it, but that you do it. Dont worry so much about finding the exact, right, perfect, foolproof [substitute your adjective here] action. Just pick something that you know you can do, and do it - consistently.
The best, and easiest, kind of action to take is baby-step action. Rather than telling yourself youll start a newsletter, schedule 3 presentations and make 30 calls this week, chunk that list down. Each of those objectives is great, and will certainly result in getting your name out and about. But take it easy here. Remember, slow and steady (read: consistent and doable) wins the race.
So dont try to tackle the whole list in one Cialis swoop. Choose one of those things, create a mini-action plan, and schedule the steps into your calendar (Im serious about this part). And watch the results begin to happen.
For example, if you decide to schedule 3 presentations, your mini action plan might be to
> make a list of 3-4 topics youd like to speak on
> brainstorm the organizations and associations whose members would be interested in your topics
> write up a brief biography and blurbs for each topic
> write a script for what youll say when you contact a group
> start making calls and emails
Then, when youve gotten comfortable with that, do the same thing with the next item on your list. Before you know it, youll have a whole marketing system in place that will keep your pipeline of prospective clients full. And all because you simply picked a place to start and got into action.
Helen Graves is an expert at showing independent entrepreneurs how to get more clients with less stress. Tune into her free audio course on how to Simplify Your Marketing in 6 Easy Steps at www.helengraves.comwww.helengraves.com
posted by lindaddl @ 8:28 AM
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