Every time we avoid doing something, there is a cost associated with it, but there is also a benefit.
Understanding the costs and benefits of avoiding marketing activities can be the key to getting off the ground and moving forward.
First, let’s consider that you avoid some marketing activities. If you’re not sure, let me show you some examples.
Do you avoid any of these activities?
.Develop a Powerful Marketing Message
.Differentiate yourself from your competitors
.Write various marketing materials
.Update your website and/or blog
.Create a step-by-step marketing action plan
.Networking, public speaking, publishing, etc.
.Follow up with interested prospects
.Work on improving the sales process
If you avoid any of these activities, there is a pretty obvious cost. The cost is not attracting more customers. You know it, everyone knows it. So why not take action and start making this happen?
Well, because avoiding those jobs also has a reward. That is, when you avoid doing something, you get something in return that you perceive as beneficial.
In principle, you have the opportunity to stay in your comfort zone. You know, the zone where there is no risk and nothing bad can happen to you, like experiencing rejection or failure.
Many Times We Do Not See This Cost/Benefit Dynamic
Instead, we get away with excuses: “I don’t have time, I’ll get to it later, it really doesn’t matter anyway with what I already have, that’s enough.”
If we are honest and look a little deeper, we realize that we are deceiving ourselves. But when we think about doing those things we avoid, we feel an unpleasant feeling in the pit of our stomach and jump into a comfortable activity that makes us forget, for example, surfing the web, hanging out on Facebook, eating, watching TV, to name a few.
I have worked with hundreds of clients over the years and it is never the case that marketing activities are difficult; In most cases, marketing is pretty easy. It is that the reward for not taking action is stronger than the perceived reward for taking action.
So the question is how can we work with the cost/benefit dynamic and trade avoidance for action? We can begin by analyzing them separately. let’s get started
Let’s Work With The Costs Of Avoiding Dealing With Marketing
List all the activities you are avoiding, and then write down the specific cost of doing so. Be as specific as possible. Let’s see some examples.
.Avoiding developing a powerful marketing message will lead to not getting attention at networking events and not finding people who are interested in your services.
Avoid writing various marketing materials – If I don’t have well-written materials like my website, I can’t educate my potential customers about my services and consequently, they won’t become paying customers
.Ok, now let’s turn everything around. Look at the advantages of doing the activities they are avoiding.
.Creating a step-by-step marketing action plan: So you know where you are and what you have to do to attract more customers. You’ll be more effective at getting the word out.
.The implementation of a conference plan: It will place me in front of better decision-makers and thus I will be able to pre-sell my ideas, which will allow me to follow up and offer my services.
Until we have real reasons to do something and can see the real benefits, we are unlikely to take action.
Let’s Work With The Benefits Of Avoiding Dealing With Marketing
.Develop a powerful marketing message: This can be scary. I would rather stick with the label of being a coach than seem like I am exaggerating my services. I don’t want people to reject me.
.Write various marketing materials: I am not a good writer and it takes a long time to write good materials. I don’t want to waste my time typing badly, so I’m going to wait and play it safe.
Well now is the time to question these excuses. “Is the reward of avoiding doing something really more important than the reward of taking action? Will I really face rejection and ridicule? And what if not everyone is interested in what I have to offer? If I show myself, aren’t I more likely to find some people who are interested??? »
By questioning in this way, you begin to weaken the foundation of the benefit of not doing. You might discover that that benefit isn’t such a big deal after all. The bounty came about as a way to protect yourself from damage, but now we can start to see that the bounty is actually dealing with damage.
By the way, this is much more effective if you write it down. It will produce more impact, you will be able to go deeper and continue for longer.
After you’ve gone through this exercise with one or more marketing activities that you now avoid, take a break and turn your attention to something else.
If you still find yourself avoiding a certain marketing activity, do the exercise again. It’s like building a new set of muscles. You don’t get strong from just doing a few push-ups!
Here are the four steps – Take a written note.
.1. Check the real costs of avoiding
.2. Look at the benefits of acting
.3. Look for the excuses that support the benefit of not doing
.4. Now question the validity of your excuses
After doing this a few times you will notice that when you think about this marketing activity, your immediate response is not avoidance. You may find yourself thinking about how you could make this work and imagining all the positive things that could happen as a result of taking action.
Ultimately, when the cost of not acting becomes greater than the reward for not acting, you automatically take action.
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