Did you ever just throw your hands in the air because your marketing campaign wasn’t going quite the way you wanted it to? We joke all the time about thankless jobs, but there are times when marketing your small business puts you at the head of the class. There a certain amount of humility that goes hand in hand with a minor case of manic depression when you realize that a marketing campaign didn’t quite work out quite the way you were hoping it would.
¼ inspiration, ¾ perspiration. You’ve heard it. It’s the mantra for anyone who’s ever written a paper, painted a picture (or their living room) or tackled a long-term project that lost its shine after the first 24 hours. Yesterday I was reading the Duct Tape Marketing blog and I stumbled across a post he’d done on inspiration and the role it really plays in marketing your small business.
Surprisingly to some, not so surprisingly to others, inspiration is a pretty small part of the big picture. Oh sure, you need a good idea every now and again. If you could have more good ideas than bad ones, that would be even better! It keeps you going. It pushes you forward. It encourages you to think instead of becoming so busy being busy that you don’t have time to think more than a few steps ahead! (You can read the post in its entirety here.)
Having a good idea is like owning a deflated, inflatable canoe, however. (Yes, they exist-check it out if you don’t believe!) Until you actually gather up the gumption to do something about, and put your time and effort into making it a success, it’s never going to get you where you want to go.
And if you don’t stick with it while you’re learning how to steer, you’re going to crash into the rocks every time you step off the shore.
¼ inspiration, ¾ perspiration. Remember that, apply it to your marketing mix and your practices for marketing your small business, and you’re going to be just fine.
Tune in tomorrow for the first of a 5 part series on fundraising, gathering up community support and marketing your non-profit. In the meantime, check out the video below to learn how to create a marketing plan for your small business with “Duct Tape Marketing” author John Jantsch.
Creating a Marketing Plan, with “Duct Tape Marketing” author John Jantsch