Archives for April 2013

Many years ago, I met a real estate agent at a training seminar. As we chatted, it became clear that she was really stuck. Being a naturally curious gal, I started asking her questions about her marketing.

She told me that her primary marketing efforts focused on advertising, and she was spending $1,200 per month on it. I then asked about how many clients she got from her ads, and she said, “Oh, I don’t get any clients from it.”

Uh… ok. Bewildered, I asked one more question – “If you don’t get any results, why do you spend so much on advertising?” She replied, “Well, I’ve always done it, and everyone else does it, so I have to do it.”

I was speechless at the blatant absurdity of it. Spending over $14,000 per year on ZERO results?

When we’re looking at other people, their mistakes are so obvious, aren’t they?

Not so obvious is how we do this to ourselves – spending time and money on things that do not work, just because everyone else is doing it, and we’ve always done it.  So let’s unearth the gunk that is draining your time, energy and money. It’s easy. We’ll use the real estate agent’s statement as a guide.

1.  “I’ve always done it.” What do you do now that used to be effective, but no longer serves you or is totally out of step with the times?

2.  “Everyone else does it.” What strategies are assumed necessities in your industry or community, but that aren’t producing measurable results? (social media is often the worst offender here!)

3.  “I have to do it.” What do you think you “should” be doing, but doesn’t actually bring you any results?

Give yourself an honest evaluation, and remember that it’d be better to do nothing than to waste time and money on actions that have a proven track record of not working. Cut out what is wasting your time, and allow new, more effective solutions to emerge.

“How did I get so far off course?”

I get this question a lot from people. And the answer is – drift.

Drift is subtle. It happens when you set your actions along a path that is just a few degrees off course from your goals. But those few degrees off course, if we compare it to a physical map, can be the difference between ending up in Disneyland, and, say, Montana.

And the worst part about drift? You don’t even notice that it’s happening.

So how do you know you’re drifting, how do you get back on course, and how do you counteract it in the future?

• You’re in the midst of drift if you’re saying things like, “Where am I?”, “Why isn’t this working?”, “How did I get here?”, or “It’s going to take me forever to get back on track.”

• To get back on track, review your business and look at the times when you were getting the results you wanted. Track those results back to the activities that got you there, and start doing those things on a consistent basis.

• To stay on track, stay consistent with your activity, track your results, evaluate, and adjust your course.

Take these things to heart, and your business will grow exponentially.

And seriously, if you want to bypass all this drift business, hire a coach. Whether you work with me or someone else – just get an outside perspective on your side. Having someone help you stay aware of the tendency to drift, and counteracting it consistently, is one of the most important things you will do in your business. It will save you time, sanity, and a whole lot of money.