There's No Hovering

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

I was talking to someone about their marketing recently and what she told me, in essence, was that she was okay with where she was in her business. No, she wasn't happy with her clients or the kind of projects she was doing, but at least she was making good money.

She was hovering.

One of my favorite business sayings is: "You're either moving forward or you're moving backward; there's no hovering!"

We think of hovering as maintaining the status quo in our businesses, keeping on doing the same thing, not taking risks and hoping for the best. At least you're surviving. Right?

Wrong.

Everything is always in flux, always changing, and if you aren't making a concerted effort to move things forward, sooner or later things will drift backwards, often to a point of no return.

OK, so you choose to move forward. You can move forward either reactivity or proactivity.

Reactivity is working on moving forward because you have no choice. Perhaps you lost a big client and need to get a new one.

Proactivity is working on moving forward because you have a bigger vision and want to fulfill that vision.

Reactivity comes out of desperation and proactivity comes out of inspiration. Reactivity says, "How can I survive?" Proactivity says, "How can I thrive?"

Take a look at your marketing.

Are you moving backward or are you moving forward? Are you reactive or proactive? And if you'd prefer to be moving forward proactively, how do you do that?

You ask these kind of serious questions:

What do I really want for my business?

What's the difference I want to make?

What are my stretch financial goals?

What would be more exciting and fun?

What new projects could I take on?

Will the benefits outweigh the cost?

Will I regret it if I don't move forward?

Where can I get the help to make it work?

What is the first step I need to take?

If you actually take the time to answer those questions honestly, you'll shift gears from moving forward reactively to moving forward proactively.

The final step is commitment. And when you make that commitment, as W.H. Murray said:

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."

Stop hovering and commit.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: There is no hovering. You're either moving forwards to backwards. You can moving forwards reactively or proactively. To get proactive, ask serious questions. Then commit. And when you do, it all falls into place, sometimes miraculously.

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Where are you hovering in your marketing right now? What are you going to commit to? Please share your answer on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below. 

 

Comments

[Kerri]

Thanks for these comments/input. I liked the idea of the client focus, Sam - looking for opportunity as well as setting goals. It triggered me to do a sort of concept map to see where the two approaches collided, that makes planning next steps easier. As an 'ideas' person it is that narrowing down to what should be done NOW that I sometimes struggle with!

[Sam Howley]

The W.H. Murray quote is a killer!

Here is another one I like :

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward through the night"

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One thing I did notice is that the list of questions is focused on the business operator.

In some situations asking questions focused on the client can be more motivational. Especially for business operators who are naturally not introspective, they might not want to think about what their aims are but may be excited by the suggestion of opportunity.

Eg.

What is the most valuable thing your clients need that you don't currently provide.

What sort of clients are you currently not reaching that you might be able to with a slightly modified service ?

What is the fastest growing segment of your client market ?

Thanks
Sam

[Andy]

This is so true. I think that so many people get stuck on security that they forget that if they are not changing and moving forward, they are actually moving backwards. I found that when I had defined my goals, it got so much easier to move forward.