Duplicating Failure

I talked yesterday
about the issues with
trying to duplicate a success.

It is equally fruitless
trying to duplicate a failure.

A loved one scoped out
the Amazon bricks and mortar store
in Seattle.
It looks almost identical
to every other book store,
book stores that are failing.

I expected more from Amazon.
They revolutionized the online bookstore
(yes, these existed before Amazon).
I expected them to do the same
with bricks and mortar book stores.

They didn’t.
They duplicated a failing model.

If you duplicate a failed business,
it is highly likely
that you will fail also.

Be Unique

A book becomes popular,
usually because it is unique
in some way,
then a thousand similar books
are immediately published.
Most of these books
won’t find success.

We see this in other industries also.
A unique business idea
becomes successful
and a flood of me-too products
enter the market.
These me-too products, again,
are rarely as successful
as the original.

We KNOW,
in our guts,
this will happen,
yet it is human nature
to seek the ‘easy’ route,
to want a proven formula
for success.

There aren’t any easy routes
to success.

Don’t duplicate
today’s big hit.
Be original.
Be unique.
Be tomorrow’s big hit.

Building Assets

I published my first story
8 years ago.
Every month, I sell copies of this eBook.
Every month, I receive income from it.
It is an asset.
It should provide my writing business
with sales
for the rest of my life.

This should be your goal.

Seth Godin
shares

“They [investors] want you
to put the money to use
building an asset,
something that works
better and better
over time,
something that makes your project
more profitable
and more efficient.

And they want you
to use that asset
to create value
that will pay them back
many times over.”

Are you building assets?

Know How The System Works

If you want to be a best selling writer,
you have to know
how Amazon works,
Amazon being one of the biggest booksellers.

If you want to sell the most soft drinks,
you have to know
how Walmart works,
Walmart being one of the biggest resellers.

If you want to be hired at Google,
you have to know
how Google hires their employees.

You need to know the system.
You can buck the system if you want.
You can work outside it
or try to change it.
But you still have to know
how it works
and why it works the way it does.

It sounds like a no-brainer
but, every freakin’ day,
I see people make a run for success
without knowing anything about
the system they’re working within.

Learn how the system works.

The Busy Excuse

A team member
delayed a group project yesterday
because she was ‘busy.’
Of all of the excuses to use,
this is one of the worst.

Saying
she couldn’t complete the task
because she was ‘busy’
implies that the other team members,
the people who did
what they promised to do,
weren’t busy.
They had nothing else to do.

We’re all f*ckin’ busy.
Tell us a reason
why
you’re especially busy.
Your grandma died.
Your babysitter quit.
We’re being invaded by aliens
and you’re the only person
who can stop them.

Don’t flip off your responsibilities,
responsibilities you took on
and should have planned for,
with an airy fairy ‘I was busy.’

Think before you use
the ‘I’m busy’ excuse.

The Truth Teller

I made a wrong decision.
I knew in my gut
that it was a mistake
but I needed someone
to tell me this,
to confirm my gut.

Many people wouldn’t.
They made half-hearted comments
like “It’ll work out”
and “Your reasoning is sound.”
They either didn’t care
or they didn’t have the guts
to tell me I f*cked up.

Thankfully,
I have THAT friend.
You know the one.
She tells everyone
exactly what she’s thinking,
no filter.

She told me
I was being a dumb a$$
and listed all of the reasons
why
my decision was dumb.

These ‘truth tellers’
aren’t the most comfortable people
to be around.
We also don’t always
agree with them.

But we NEED them,
especially if we want
to make better decisions.

Don’t silence the truth tellers.
Value them.

After The Rush Is Gone

I’ve seen this
with EVERY project
I’ve been involved in.

At first,
the group or individual
is super excited.
The project is new.
There’s that rush
that comes with starting.

Then that fades
and the work starts.
Some projects die
at this point.
We all know would-be entrepreneurs
who start businesses
and never follow through,
writers who write chapters 1, 2 and 3
and then stop,
students who drop out
in year 3 of a 4 year degree.

What we do
after that first rush of ‘new’
is gone
defines us,
defines our success.

Seth Godin
shares

“The work of a professional
isn’t to recreate thrills.
It’s to show up
and do the work.
To continue the journey
you set out on
a while ago.
To make the change
you seek
to make in the universe.

Thrilling is fine.
Mattering is more important.”

Stick with worthy projects,
even after the rush is gone.

Giant Leaps

If you want big gains
in ANY field,
you have to do something different,
something you’ve never done before.

Seth Godin
talks about
the 10X marketer.

“The 10x marketer understands that
the job isn’t to do marketing
the way the person before you did it,
or the way your boss asked you to do it.

Strategic marketing comes from
questioning the tactics,
understanding who you are seeking to change
and being willing to re-imagine
the story your organization tells.

Don’t play the game,
change the game.”

Giant leaps in results
can only come
from changing what you’re doing.
Do something different today.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Only When You Need Help

We all know folks in our personal lives
who only contact us
when they need help.
They never call simply to talk.
They never seem to be around
when we need help.

We’re not thrilled to help these people.

When it’s a business relationship,
it seems to be more acceptable
to contact folks
only when we need help.

Seems
because it isn’t,
not if we are asking the same person
for help
over and over again,
taking and never giving back.

You might say
‘But helping me is their job.
That’s what they’re paid to do.’
Yes, but they likely have many people
they could help.
Why would they put
helping you as a priority
if you’re merely part of their job?

This is why thank you cards,
holiday cards,
thinking of you gifts or emails
are important.
These are small give backs
to offset all the taking.

Make certain the help flows both ways.