Effective Marketing Takes Time

Lately I find myself stepping on our bathroom scale at least once a day. I think it's because I have been exercising more regularly and I want to see the results.

The problem is, the scale still gives me bad news every day. I've considered "adjusting" it with a sledge hammer but so far I've restrained myself.

Last week I was lamenting this situation to a friend of mine. Rather than offer words of comfort (like he should have) he reminded me of the advice I give people about their marketing:

"Be patient."

"The longer you do it the better it works."

"Don't expect tangible results right away."

"Enough, already!" I begged. "I get the point."

Whether I liked it or not he was right to throw my advice back at me.

You DO need to be patient when you begin exercising. You need to keep working at it everyday. Let the power of time work its magic. Nothing of value happens overnight. Good things take time, whether you're talking about exercising or promoting your business (or many other things).

This conversation also reminded me of advice my father (and chief business advisor) has given me often. He says "don't worry about daily, incremental changes. Focus on the long term trends."

And he's right. Daily or weekly ups and downs are usually meaningless in the context of quarterly and annual reporting. One good week could make up for three bad weeks (or vice-versa).

If you focus too closely on today or this week you can easily make bad decisions because you don't have accurate information.

When you start a new promotion for your business, make sure you give it adequate time to prove itself.

My friend Mike Moore reminds us that marketing is about "moving people to action". And moving them to action requires that you get their attention and give them a good reason to stop and change what they're doing.

You can accomplish this by putting your message in front of your target market many, many times, in different ways.

And doing this well takes time. So does losing weight. So be patient and keep working at it. You'll see results, eventually.

In the meantime, I have a used, slightly battered scale for sale...