The workload really isn’t that big. It just seems that way at the moment. Your clients really aren’t that demanding. It just feels that way right now. The stack of projects at your desk isn’t that huge. It just seems like Mount Everest this morning.
Maybe what you need isn’t necessarily a way to squeeze a few more productive minutes out of your day. Maybe what you need is a vacation.
Imagine you’re standing at the top of the hill in front of the marketing well. With a final turn of the winch the bucket comes up. You take hold of it and find it full to the brim with great marketing ideas. With your bucket in hand you carefully go back down the hill to where your clients are waiting.
Halfway down the hill you notice the bucket seems a lot lighter. You glance down and find it already half empty. Looking back to the well you see a trail of marketing ideas splashed over the ground. What happened? There might be some holes in your marketing bucket.
When you think of your perfect customer, who comes to mind? Is it that steely-eyed executive with the pin-striped suit and the V-8 sports car? Or maybe the friendly neighbor a few houses down who loves her cats and her knitting? It could be the eager college student with her trusty tablet, the cynical stock broker who’s had a run of bad luck or your sister-in-law getting ready to start her first business.
So who is it? Your avatar is your perfect customer, and defining that person is one of the first steps in starting a successful business. You may have begun your business for personal reasons, perhaps carrying on a family tradition or fulfilling a life-long dream, but sooner or later (probably sooner rather than later) you’re going to need to sell something. That’s where the avatar comes in.
There’s a strange human phenomena that has puzzled scientists for years. Why do so many people trust their friends instead of the experts? You’ve probably seen it in action, even with something simple. Maybe you’ve done it yourself.
Let’s say Jane is trying to decide whether or not to go see a movie. The film is hailed by critics—experts in narrative and dramatic interpretation who’ve spent years honing their craft and have critiqued literally thousands of movies. Yet when making the decision to view the film, Jane asks her friend, Tom, who says the movie is terrible.
As you may have noticed, the world is full of people. That means you’re in the people business, regardless of what you do. Anything we do— no matter how obscure and far removed from the public it may seem— ultimately involves people in some fashion or form. Your relationships with these people will go a long way in determining your business success.
Relationships matter in business, now more than ever.
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
― Henry Ford
You’re only as old as you feel, so they say. As Henry Ford knew well, that also applies to your mind. Constantly striving to challenge your brain has many dividends.
If you blink, you’re obsolete. In fact, you’re obsolete by the time you’ve even considered whether to blink or whether you’re obsolete. Actually, it may not be that bad, but in this modern world with all its constant change and hubbub, it can sure feel that way sometimes.
So how do you stay up to speed?
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“Beware the Ides of March,” the soothsayer warned Julius Caesar. Naturally, Rome’s would-be dictator ignored this sensible advice and soon perished under the knives of those whom he had counted as friends. The stories we grow up on are filled with similar endings— it might be failing to avoid a black cat, passing under a ladder or walking into that creepy-looking house when all reason says not to. Do you take any of those stories to heart? Are you superstitious about your business?