A grab-bag of good ideas will never be as valuable to you as a simple process.
Not 1 in 100 understand what I just said. So pay close attention to this story:
A $20,000,000 manufacturing company needed a new strategy. They coughed up many tens of thousands of dollars to an international consulting firm and waited.
The Consultants rolled up their sleeves and got to work. They interviewed suppliers, employees and customers. They watched. Asked questions. And scribbled notes.
After three months, the big day had arrived. Time to deliver their “strategy.” And this they did, in the form of a 52 page book.
The CEO looked at it and shook his head. “We can’t use this,” he concluded. “All they did was take all the ideas we already had and put them in a book!”
(It’s almost certainly the corporate consultants – not the street-smart solo guys – who are responsible for that famous joke about a consultant taking your watch to tell you the time.)
The “strategy” was a collection of good ideas. Things they could do. But listen carefully. The company didn’t need any more good ideas. They needed help choosing a very few of good ideas to implement!
It worked out OK in the end. The CEO found me and for tens of thousands more, I walked them through a process that actually helped them make a decision.
Notice the difference: I walked them through a PROCESS that helped them make a few important DECISIONS. They then knew exactly what to DO without being distracted by second guessing and shiny objects.
And all this was etched out in just seven pages.
Yes, a simple seven page process was far more valuable than 52 pages of good ideas.
If you’re good at what you do, but struggle to create a consistent flow of clients, then I bet your problem is the same.
Too many good ideas, no simple process.
It’s all them marketing plumbers out there waving their favorite shiny object at you. Each uses up more of your time and takes you in another direction. And many are actually good ideas.
BUT too many good ideas keep you going in circles. You don’t need more good ideas. You need a process. A process that helps you decide what few things you really should be doing. So you can get to work and do them well.
Now, if you really ‘get’ what I’m saying here, that’s excellent.
But if you’re even a little unclear, go listen (or relisten) to my most popular free teleseminar: “The 5 Steps to A Consistent Flow of Clients.”
After you’ve listened you’ll understand what a marketing process really is. And how to start building yours.
After you’ve listened, post a comment below and tell me what you think.
Dov Gordon
