Agora publisher, Michael Masterton is famous for the quote, “ready, fire, aim”.
Nike says, “Just do it”.
In business nothing happens unless you take action. Sell a product. Get the money in. Rinse and repeat.
But we see so many small business owners suffer paralysis by analysis, go round in circles and miss out on opportunities due to needing all their ducks to line up before taking action.
Start-ups think they need the perfect business card, website, marketing brochure before speaking to a prospect.
Others refuse to start if the product or service is 100% perfect. For those I have news. Nothing is ever 100% perfect.
Just get it out there. Get feedback. Make corrections and in doing so find out what your market really wants.
80% done is good enough to start seeing results now.
Sure, there are lots of areas which mandate perfection. I wouldn’t want a surgeon doing 80% of the job when operating.
But marketing and selling isn’t one of those areas.
It’s far better to take action and get your message out in front of your audience than wait for the perfect business card, brochure or website.
Like it or not, marketing is a game of intelligent guessing and testing. You try things out to see if they resonate with your audience.
Use the 80/20 rule. Your marketing material needs to be effective, not perfect. Big rocks first. See if people positively respond. Then keep testing and tweaking to improve.
All too often people are crippled through indecision. They can’t decide on a design for a brochure, card or website. Or what they should be saying to their prospects.
As a result, nothing happens. Customers who may well buy are never given the chance to do so because they’ve never been exposed to your message.
So if you’re stuck in this mode, check your mindset and make a decision to move on.
Still not convinced? One of my favourite sayings is, “Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor”. If you’re out there doing things, other opportunities that you’d never have imagined will come out of left field. Think back in your life. What seemingly small decisions have led to hugely positive results that appear to come out of nowhere. Where would your life be if you hadn’t taken action.
So go do it!
