Never underestimate the power of staring at a blinking cursor.
Resist the urge to grab your phone if there’s no immediate thought and nothing to type.
Just the blank screen. And a blinking cursor.
Resist the urge to check Insta, LinkedIn, Mail etc.
Still only that blinking cursor.
Resist a little longer.
A little longer.
You will start typing, eventually.
And what you’ve typed is something to work with.
(Works with a blank piece of paper, too.)
Most businesses are obsessed with getting customers to buy faster.
While dismissing that the customer who buys slowly, after careful consideration, is more likely to turn into a raving fan later.
The magic ingredient that can’t easily be accelerated is trust. Trust can’t be built over night. Trust grows. Usually rather slowly.
But it’s the stuff long-lasting relationships are made of.
Your story spreads when your audience is able and eager to tell your story.
So.
Are they able to tell it? Do they get it? Is it crystal clear? Can they repeat it? In their language?
But also: Are they eager? Why would they want to tell it? Does it boost their status?
You need both. Easy doesn’t help if there’s no reason for your audience to tell your story. On the other hand, a strong reason to spread your story won’t help if it’s hidden underneath a layer of confusion.
The easier it is for your audience to tell your story and the more the telling of your story boosts their status, the more likely it is that your story actually spreads.
Both aspects here are crucial:
Champions keep playing. And they want to get it right.
They don’t quit. Not after the first failed attempt. And not after the 50th. They keep playing.
And.
They want to get it right. As opposed to being right. They tweak and adapt their technique until they get the result they are looking for. They keep playing until they understand how that move works, why the competition managed to win the pitch, why the team misunderstood the decision. They try new things and push the boundaries until they find something that works.
Over and over again.
Practice. Tweak. Repeat.
They won’t stop until they get it right.
If you do only one of those, it’s likely not going to work.
Great marketing is true to who you are.
Great marketing also delivers results.
The confusion occurs when our true story doesn’t deliver the results we’re looking for. It’s tempting to conclude that we must bend the truth a little bit. Because, well, we need to pay the bills, right? So, we need the results. Also, it’s just a teeny bit, so really no big deal, agreed? (Plus: others are cheating as well.)
Well, your call.
I feel a better approach is to change our perspective. It’s rather likely that the story we’re telling with our marketing is not the only story that’s true to who we are.
Quite the opposite. There are almost certainly ways to shift our story while remaining true. Maybe we just told it to the wrong people. Or we told our truth while neglecting theirs. It might also be that there’s a slight adaptation to our offer that’s still true to who we are but resonates much stronger than our current offer.
When you do work that matters, it’s almost inevitable that it finally resonates. Fix your product so that the true story is in service of your audience. Fix your story so that it’s told on behalf of your audience. To the right audience.
And the results will come.
Today marks the end of Angela Merkel’s period as Germany’s chancellor.
Three attitudes she brought to the office:
Keep calm.
Be respectful.
Listen.
Put together, these three lead to the confidence that there’s always a path. No matter who or what is challenging you. Keep calm, be respectful, listen … and you’ll figure it out.
It might not be the change you were hoping for. Maybe you could have done without change, entirely. But given that the world is changing regardless of whether you like it or not, being able to find a reasonable path forward, even when it’s a severe disruption, is a great virtue.
Thanks for your service, Mrs. Merkel.
Resistance is the universal force that keeps you from doing things.
However, there’s an important distinction about two very different types of resistance.
The first is knowing that you need to do this but you hide from actually doing it. For example, you just know that you have to publish this video, build that product, pitch that idea to your boss, but you hide from it because resistance has sent you fear.
This type of resistance is a great compass for the things we should do. When it kicks in, we know we’re onto something. The fear is there precisely because it matters so much to us.
The second type is knowing that you need to stay away from doing that thing but everyone keeps telling you that you should really do it. It sounds perfectly reasonable when they say it. It works for others, so why shouldn’t it work for you? And yet, your gut tells you that something is off. It just doesn’t feel right. Somehow, you know it’s not right although you can’t pinpoint why.
This type of resistance is a great compass for the things we shouldn’t do. When it kicks in, we know we should run. The doubt was there because it wasn’t true to who we are.
The art is in knowing which kind of resistance you’re in. A great first step is to start noticing it. When you do, then pay attention to how you feel, the patterns in your thinking, and, of course, the outcome.
There are two kinds of coaches. Those who give you answers and those who give you questions.
There’s a place for both but it’s likely that only one is a good match for you.
The one who has the answers tells you what to do to achieve your goals, the other one helps you figure this out for yourself.
In the first case you trust the coach to have the experience to know what’s best for you, in the second case the coach trusts you to have the ability to know what’s best for you.
In the former case the job of finding the right question is yours, in the latter case it’s the coach’s job.
It pays to become conscious about which one you need before hiring your coach.
(And if you’re a coach, it’s just as valuable to understand your approach in this regard.)
Here’s the complete guide to marketing success.
Ask yourself this question: “If they knew what you know, would they buy?”
Depending on the answer, do this:
If not, don’t even bother with your communication. Fix your product. Repeat.
If yes, all you need to do is tell a true story about your product.
Skip the bullshit. Speak with clarity. That’s all there is to it.
“Don’t ask me why. It’s an order from above.”
Still a common scheme in corporations – both outward and inward facing. It frustrates customers and teams alike.
One solution – basically the default in many corporations – is to explain harder, i.e. longer, i.e. repeatedly.
Using. The. Exact. Same. Words.
As if not getting it was the team’s fault.
Clarity is the leader’s responsibility. The days of command & control have long passed by. Lighting the path so that people see where we’re going – and why – is a much stronger approach. It starts with seeing from the team’s perspective.
(Likewise for customers.)
