Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat, LinkedIn, and many more. These platforms are valuable to businesses because of the information it provides, not because of the marketing it deploys. Social platforms are not free, we waive our rights, privacy and personal information, for what? To become the center of attention or for more likes or because we think we have the next big idea since sliced bread? Sales tactics and catchy phrases grab our attention and promise that if we do 3 things it will make you successful. Do you actually believe that? The easiest way to make a million dollars is to write a book on how to make a million books and sell 100k books for $10 a pop. It doesn’t actually have to add value or tell you how to do it. Laziness is a disease and the promise of obtaining something by cheating is attractive even if you don’t believe it to be true. It is the same reason diets don’t work. Actually, diets work, people don’t. I promise I have a point.
2 Statements to Remember
- Just because it is easy, doesn’t mean it is not a lot of work.
- Just because it is slow, doesn’t mean it is not working
Here are some examples. I cannot tell you how many times I have done a project that I have found online from Pinterest or somewhere else and, although it turned out great, it took two and sometimes, three times as long. At first glance, I say, “sure, I can do that, it will be easy”, but once I get into it, only then I begin to realize, it might be easy, but still a lot of work. People take this same approach with project request. Someone finds a project online and then asks someone else do do it; of course they want the cheap DIY listed price as well. News flash, if you have someone else do your DIY project, it seizes to become a DIY project. Short story, no one wants to put in the effort, they just want the results.
Key Takeaways
- Overnight success rarely happens overnight
- Experience should always be a part of the equation
Along the same lines, even though a project may have taken longer than you thought, it doesn’t mean there is not progress being made. Think of the tortoise and the hare; just because the tortoise was slower, doesn’t mean he wasn’t working. I see this all the time with SEO campaigns and online marketing, where companies change strategies too soon and disrupt the process only to keep starting over because they don’t have the patience to stick to a plan. (is the dieting analogy making more sense now?) Everyone wants instant results and often times the best things in life and in business take time and a lot of work.
There are scenarios where slow is bad and with many things considered, everything usually depends on something else. Experience or knowledge can greatly speed up a process. This does not assume that because something is faster, it is smarter or more intelligent, but simply faster.
You may have heard about the shop mechanic that could not figure out why a specific machine was not working.
He called the manufacturer and they told him they would have one of their engineers take a look, they only needed to email the serial and model number.
Later that day the mechanic received an email with the schematics and a red X on a specific area. A note was attached stating that the X is where the problem is. The mechanic changed the part and the machine was working again.
The following week the mechanic received a bill for $25,000. He couldn’t believe it. The mechanic asked for an itemized bill to understand what was going on and if maybe it was a mistake. When he received the itemized invoice it read:
1. Marking Up the Drawing with an X = $150.00
2. Knowing where to put the X = $24,850
Sometimes knowing where to put the X is the most important. But don’t forget it still action from the mechanic to change the part in order for the machine to work.
Too many people want to just put the X on whatever thing they are doing. Much like the engineer, they think all he did was draw an X, but it is the experiences, the successes and failures and the process the engineer went through that allowed him to have such quick responses and ultimate success in fixing that specific issue.
If you read this far, you are probably still waiting for the 3 or 5 steps that will make you successful or dramatically improve your online marketing. Or, maybe you are like me and you just skipped down to the section that had number bullets. Either way, I am glad you are here and here are areas to focus on:
5 Things to Focus on to Create Value Online:
- Content, Content, Content – with most platforms saturated with content, it really is a numbers game.
- Create Trust with Clients by Adding Value to their Lives not by Selling to Them – People are sold every second of every day. Building a relationship, a brand, a partnership will last much longer than a first sell.
- Quantity over Quality – This is an extension of the first focus point, Content. No one cares if the lighting is not perfect (unless you are producing a tutorial on ‘how to setup lighting for your next YouTube tutorial’), but really, don’t let perfection get in the way of progress.
- Do what you are GOOD at, also do what you are BAD at. It is the process that people will find intriguing and real. People respond to vulnerability. They either empathize or they make fun of and judge, either way, just do it. No fear!
- If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. If no one is doing it, why! Don’t be afraid to test out new ideas and accept all feedback, even the negative ones. Even if you don’t agree with someone, you may learn something from the way they arrived to their idea or comment. This is a powerful tool, don’t take it for granted.
