Back when I was clueless, I spent lots of time doing big things that got me nowhere.
Don’t know if you heard of Larry Huston. He used to be SVP of Knowledge and Innovation at a little company called Procter and Gamble. $80+ billion in annual sales. Larry developed the famous open innovation model that everyone wanted to imitate.
I was the founder and sole employee of The Gordon Group. (Annual sales not public. But we’ve always trailed P&G.) My most important responsibility was finding clients. And I was failing miserably.
“Well, you need a bigger list,” I said to myself. “And teleseminars are a good way to grow a list.”
Larry had recently left P&G to open his own consulting firm. Got him on the phone and he agreed to do a teleseminar with this young guy from Israel he had never met or heard of.
Next. Where would the audience come from?
I called my way into the head of strategy for TheMarker magazine, Israel’s answer to Forbes or Fortune. I schlepped to Tel Aviv to meet with them and sell my brilliant idea: “I’ll bring you exclusive interviews with leading business luminaries. You publish the interview and mention my upcoming teleseminar in the byline with a link. Win – win – win.”
I don’t recall how many people joined the call. But it doesn’t matter. It was a great call. But it did NOTHING for my business.
Little did I realize that I was perfecting the Castles on Quicksand Method of Marketing: Working like a dog on projects that – even if successful – would do nothing for ME. Everyone would admire what I did and go home, leaving me to watch it all sink into nothing.
Are you building Castles on Quicksand? If yes, I have just two things to say to you:
1. Stop.
2. Request a free “Consistent Flow of Customers” strategy session with me.
Yes, there’s hope. You just need to take the first step.
Dov Gordon
