About Social Media Today
When I first started my blog and coaching business six years ago, I didn’t know anything about online marketing. In fact, I didn’t even know what a blog was before I had to create one as an assignment for a class.
Every single piece of technology involved a huge learning curve.
I would try to change the header on my original Typepad blog and would end up screwing up the formatting for the entire page. I would try to add something to the sidebar like a list of recommended books, and I would spend hours figuring out how to do it.
I would have ideas for blog posts in my head, but it was awkward to know the right headline to choose, or the appropriate mix of topics for my audience.
But slowly, as I worked on it day by day, my knowledge grew.
I kept plugging away slowly at growing my blog content and subscribers.
And for six years, I have used my blog as a consistent way to build my reputation, build my brand and build my business. Now I don’t think twice about writing a post. The technology doesn’t trip me up. My writing has gotten more clear.
And I think this is because I have been unconsciously practicing the technique-power-speed method of learning a business skill.
Technique-Power-Speed
In my Mixed Martial Arts class the other night, my instructor Mr. Fiori told us exactly how we should train our kickboxing combinations.
“First, focus on technique.Do the movements very slowly so that you get a good feel for the technique.
Then, when you feel confident in the technique, add power. Pay attention to the force that comes through your body, and direct it to your target.
Finally, add speed. The technique, power and speed together is what will make you a great fighter.”
This is where so many business owners get stuck.
When doing a marketing activity for the first time, like writing a sales page, they have the expectation that they will get power (conversion) and speed (lots of buyers) from the initial effort.
When in reality, the very first time you do it, it is a big accomplishment just to get a mediocre sales page live on the web.
As you go through time, you improve your page by focusing on power activities — more persuasive writing, clearer offers, fresh design and compelling testimonials.
And the more you work on this, your speed picks up — more people buy and spread the word about how great your product is, which attracts more people to the page and feeds the speed of sale.
Technique training is tiring!
A student in my Power Teaching class taught her first class last night. She said:
“It was exhausting! I wrote a ten page script for the first class to make sure I covered everything. When you teach a class, you make it seem so easy!”
I replied:
“That is because I have taught over one hundred classes.”
I have repeatedly worked on the technique of designing a class, have honed my power by zeroing in on specific teaching and speaking methodologies, and I have taught thousands of people. But if I had not started with my first awkward class that was a pain to create, I would never have gotten to a place of ease and comfort with this activity.
We abandon our marketing efforts too early
There is so much focus on quick, easy marketing techniques that we forget true deep, authentic, meaningful and lasting business competence comes from technique, power and speed training.
In my recent survey to blog readers and clients, the majority of the 500 respondents said their business goals for 2012 were improve their marketing and sales competency. This will work only if they stop trying individual marketing techniques once, then abandoning them for the next shiny marketing-technique-du-jour.
Here is my challenge:
- Choose an important marketing or sales activity you completed in the last 30 days.
- Identify how well you executed the technique the first time.
- Identify the power activities that will increase your competency and improve your results the next time.
- Invest in your power activities. Get expert input. Rewrite clunky areas. Get feedback from your target audience. Read books. Watch videos. Look at case studies of successful examples.
- Do the marketing activity again.
- Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4
- Do the marketing activity again.
- Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4
- Repeat the entire process for the next year.
- Send me a big check, because I know you will be KILLING your business results at the end of 2012.
Do you have a personal story of how you got great results from focusing on technique, power and speed in your marketing activities? I want to hear it!
