Some things just don’t matter. Or I should say, they matter temporarily — and then you forget why they mattered in the first place.
People, important memories, favorite animals: those are the things worth stressing about. Everything else is replaceable. (Thanks to Alison Hodgson over on Houzz for illuminating this fact with her father’s quote.)
If you’re waiting for perfection to start a blog or send email, you’ll hold out forever. Tweet this!
As email has evolved over the years, the claim that “Email is still king” or has “the best ROI for your marketing dollar” just doesn’t seem as impressive anymore when I consider that so many small businesses are simply NOT marketing their businesses online.
Email does absolutely nothing for you if you don’t actually write something and click the send button.
For a few dollars a month an email service communicates your message to thousands of people with a tiny investment in time and an easy learning curve. That’s an resistible resource for anyone serious about marketing. Same with a blog. Same with Facebook and LinkedIn, and some other social sites if you use them. Why would you NOT?
And yet, lots of folks don’t. They claim to be in business, yet they don’t send email, or use the free social sites, or share much online. They just neglect to use the internet to market their business.
Is it because they just can’t be bothered with the technology? That’s part of it, but I don’t think it’s the main reason. Is it because they don’t know how to start? Again, that’s a small, sorry excuse.
I believe it’s because a lot of people are afraid to see something in print. They just don’t want to put something out there that might stick. It’s too big a commitment. When your name or business is attached to something written, it becomes real.
Scary, isn’t it?
Perfection is a mirage; a barren, empty promise. Tweet this!
Recently I made a couple of Facebook PPC ads targeting real estate investors: a niche I’ve been writing in for many years. One of the reasons (I told myself) I’ve not marketed directly to people in real estate is because to do so would exclude other businesses. There’s also that nagging voice saying “Who are you to call yourself an expert in real estate marketing and copy? You’ve only been doing it for 6 years.”
Six years! According to Malcom Gladwell and others, that means only 4 more years at three hours a day before I can make that claim. Then again, I’m more of an expert than most. So are you.
Maybe you worry that if you declare your value, someone will raise their hand and publicly disagree? That could happen. And when it does, congratulations. Blow it off and move ahead, because dissent is one of the first signs of success. (Read The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.)
Getting your gift into the world requires big, bold, uncomfortable steps. Any mistakes you make can be corrected or tweaked. Chances are they’ll just be forgotten — but only if you put them in your rear view mirror.
Just start. Write an email to that lady who you met the other day. Then update your blog with a word to the guy who asked you a question about your business at lunch. Post a word or two on Facebook to the customer who uses just one of your products every day, but the others are not on his radar.
Imagine the face of just one or two people and start talking with them.
If your email, blog post, or letter isn’t perfect, don’t worry. It’ll burn.
Photo © 2011 J. Ronald Lee, CC Attribution 3.0.
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