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.
