Magical Thinking: miracle occurs here

It is tempting in business - especially when it comes to marketing, I’m afraid, to indulge in Magical Thinking.

This is when you let it get in your head that if you did just ONE THING it would make all the difference in the world.

If you went to the right show…

If you wooed the right analyst…

If you wrote just the right word in that e-mail…

If you put in just the right Ad Word in Google…

What’s that magic word?

There is none.

Actually, there are two: HARD WORK. Make that three: SUSTAINED HARD WORK.

Yes, any one thing that you do could catch you the break you’re looking for. Maybe just the right analyst shows up in your booth at just the right show and you manage to light on just the right words - Did you just say backwards compatible with every application ever written? And maybe your putting in the word “yucky software” turned out to propel you to the top of the search engine world for those looking for such.

But even that BIG BREAK will turn out to be not so big if you fail to follow it up with good old fashioned execution.

Like figuring out who your customers are. And what your product can do for them. And how to reach them - or, rather, thems, because chances are that, if you’re selling B2B there are multiple different “thems” that you’re going to have to communicate with.

You need a mix of vehicles for securing customers - and a continuum of “touches”. You need to keep everything up to date: no more “let’s do a new brochure, it’s been three years since the last one” way of life. (The Internet really does change everything.)

You need to worry about your customers. About your competitors. About your industry. About your technology. Sure, we always had these worries, but now these worries are bigger than ever. (The Internet really does change everything.)

Hard work is hard. That’s why they call it hard work.

The easiest thing in the world is to do what you’re comfortable doing.

Strike that last sentence.

The easiest thing in the world is to do what you’re comfortable doing.

The easiest thing in the world is sitting around thinking that the reason you’re not succeeding is because you haven’t yet figured out that one magically miraculous, miraculously magical thing that is going to bring in droves of customers, increase your market share, and make you the envy of all your marketing friends.

Stop thinking that way right now.

End of sermon.

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