the last official mastermind that I’m going to be leading. There were about a dozen entrepreneurs and business owners there, from a variety of markets and industries.
(in case you’re wondering, we decided this year that we would no longer offer high end coaching or mastermind programs in order to create more time and space for our families, friends and passions.. more on that in future posts).
As I helped guide everyone through the challenges and opportunities they’re facing in their businesses, I saw the same pattern repeating that I’ve seen in so many clients, and even in myself.
It’s a damaging, anxiety-building problem that so many entrepreneurs deal with — and the worst part is that it’s self-inflicted.
That’s right. We do it to ourselves, and this is my effort to try and save you from .. yourself. 🙂
So what is this pleasure-robbing villain, lurking deep in every entrepreneur’s mind?
The best description of it I’ve ever heard came from my friend and brilliant business building strategist, Rich Schefren:
Spending time on things “just in case”,
instead of spending it “just in time”.
Let me explain what this means, and why it’s
SO important to understand (and avoid).
A fatal error that most business owners make is that
they invest a LOT of time into things “just in case” they end up needing them sometime in the future.
They are influenced, convinced or otherwise manipulated into believing that if they don’t do “this”, they’ll never be successful.
For example, I can’t count how many people I’ve watched rush off to take some kind of training program on social media –
without having ANY clear idea about specifically WHY they need to understand it, or
how they’re going to apply it.
They try to learn how to market using Facebook, because they’ve heard that if you’re not on Facebook, you’re a fool. So they invest a whack of time creating a crappy Facebook Fan Page that brings them zero new clients or revenue.
Or they spend hours trying to understand how Twitter works because they feel anxious about being “left behind” — that somehow, if they’re not on Twitter, they’re just not going to succeed as an entrepreneur.
So they spend hours writing up dozens of cute little “tweets” so they can schedule them to go out automatically (completely defeating the whole purpose of Twitter’s unique premise of being authentic conversations and updates).
They start following hundreds of other people and end up attracting back a bunch of people following them who have NO interest in what they even do.
They try to learn every kind of tactic and technique possible that promises to bring them closer to their dream of financial freedom and business success — yet ironically,
every new thing they pile on their list just weighs them down even more .. cause the exhaustion and overwhelm that most entrepreneurs are very familiar with.
Of course,
they never have the time to really do ANY of the things correctly, so they don’t get the results, and end up with a bunch of half-finished, and poorly-performing tactics at work, without any kind of plan or integration.
Please, STOP THE MADNESS.
If you’ve been looking for permission to STOP trying to execute all of these marketing tactics and strategies,
this is it.
Not only did I see this approach in some of the entrepreneurs at the mastermind last week, but it’s a VERY common thing I see in most entrepreneurs —
never actually doing ONE thing fantastically well, because they’re always distracted by the next strategy they’re going to implement (and feeling guilty for not already having done it).
Trying to execute several different marketing strategies and tactics, all at the same time, is a recipe for disaster.
So here, then, is my best advice when it comes to deciding how to market your business or organization.
1. Get clear on who your target market is.
I know, pretty obvious – yet more than 95% of the entrepreneurs I meet have NEVER
actually done this. Sure, they lie to themselves that they have. But they haven’t. Too hard. Too much hassle. Whatever the reason.
Stop avoiding it – do it NOW. Seriously, this will create BREAKTHROUGHS if you do it.
2. Get clear on your market’s most urgent pains and problems.
People buy solutions. They don’t buy information, and they don’t buy products or services. In fact, what you sell is an OBSTACLE to your prospect. They don’t really want to buy what you sell – they just want what it will GIVE them. But the only way to get it is by buying the product or service. Focus on the outcome, not what you sell.
3. Get clear on WHY you do what you do.
Most entrepreneurs truly have NO clue on this one. Many can come up with a clever answer that seems to make sense, but again, answering a question like this is NOT easy. If you cannot express powerfully and clearly WHY your business exists (that strikes an emotional chord in your target market), I suggest reading the book “
Start With Why” by
Simon Sinek.
4. Choose ONE marketing strategy and implement it until you get a result.
Just one.
ONE. Pick one thing, and put it into motion. Don’t get distracted by the next one. Pick the one that seems to make the most sense for you, based on your target market and how YOU want to build your business. If you can’t imagine yourself Twittering every 20 minutes and you can’t see the value, then DON’T DO IT. That doesn’t mean Twitter doesn’t have value, just not to YOU.
5. ONLY once you see results from #4, choose your next strategy and implement to completion (and success).
In other words, as the headline of this article suggests (which came from one of my wise coaching clients a couple of years ago) ..
Commit Slowly, Complete Fully.
STOP beating yourself up for all the things you’re NOT doing.
Forget it.
Focus on
ONE thing and doing it well and to completion.
Take the time that you’re using to beat yourself up mercilessly, and use that time to instead implement ONE strategy deeply and fully.
Not only will you feel better about letting go all the things you’re NOT doing, you’ll actually see RESULTS in your business! What a concept.
Most entrepreneurs spend ALL their time switching and running back and forth between strategies and tactics, they never actually spend any time on implementing them.
For example, I personally never “got” Twitter. Never felt natural to me, didn’t like doing it, and seemed like a waste of my time. Go and follow a bunch of people so they’ll automatically follow me. Huh? That doesn’t make sense to me.
So I’ve never really used Twitter. And hell, we’ve built a multi-million dollar business somehow without it.
How?
By focusing on very few strategies and taking them to
COMPLETE implementation.
That’s it.
I may not have a Twitter following, but very few companies are as effective at marketing via a blog and email as we are. Because that was the strategy we decided to focus on.
I’m not saying Twitter is a waste of time – in fact many people have built businesses using Twitter. But it’s a waste of time for
me.
And that’s okay.
The thing to notice is that for the people who HAVE built businesses through Twitter, you’ll likely find that
this is the MOST dominant strategy they use in their business – and they probably
ignore a bunch of other strategies as a result.
For SimpleWealth, our blog and our email list have been the 2 strategies we’ve used the most – and the results speak for themselves.
See the pattern?
The pattern is, decide to focus your energy on one thing, instead of spreading and diluting it out over a number of different things.
You can’t execute everything well at the same time.
Pick one.
Understand it.
Apply it.
And
work like hell.
Only once you’ve got that one rocking,
THEN (and
only then) give yourself permission to look at what you might implement next.
Follow this concept, and
I guarantee you’ll not only feel SO much better about your business, but you’ll actually be able to generate real results and fulfill the original purpose of your business — to support you and allow you to make the choices you want.
And now,
please do YOUR part and post a comment below – let me know what you think!]]>
74 Responses
Thanks for the very timely comments Greg; I was just about to let myself fall into one of these traps with another “shiny new thing”. Thanks to your post, I can now avoid that and focus on what you have explained here. In fact, I will print it out and put it up on my wall! Kudos…………:)
Great message. So simple and easy to do. No more doing all this “stuff” that makes me feel frantic and isn’t working out like I thought. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels. You hit the nail on the head! Thanks so much for your blog! Will implement right away.
You’ve described my situation exactly Greg. Thanks for the advice.
This is so confirming. Just what I needed to hear to keep everything in perspective. Another great content post
Smart and clear! I completely agree! Thank you!
I’ll follow the advice.
Guilty as charged! Thanks for your “permission” to STOP the madness. I needed that push-to reality to give the “laser focus” that is necessary to even put any kind of strategy together to make “one” thing work, and work right. Well said!
Thank YOU!
great reminder. rich schefern and all his ideas and strategies are crucial for any business owner, too much overwhelm.
Great blog post Greg. Loved your clarity on the 5 steps. Have Fun Scott
So true. Spinning my wheels trying to keep multiple projects progressing means everything moves at a snail’s pace. Ditch the guilt, ‘shoulda,coulda,woulda’, stop looking at the next shiny thing and focus to completion. Done. Thank you Greg!
Thanks- it’s just what I needed to hear today!
Thanks so much for the information it makes sense but only since i read your email. 🙂 bridget
How timely. I was just beating myself up yesterday because I wasn’t doing “enough”. Thanks Greg for bringing me back to where I ought to be.
Thanks Greg. Just recently understood the blog post subject. Getting to a place where I feel right about the strategy I have implemented and have started to see results. I must also thank Rich Schefren for showing me the importance of having a strategy in order to avoid failure as an entrepreneur. This blog post solidifies it for me. Thanks for all you do.
Hi Greg, You really summed it up nicely as usual. Clarity, Focus, Committment – all critical – was honored to be there at your last mastermind
Chasing squirrels or shiny objects is actually so much easier than committing to doing something well. We don’t have to work as hard, can always blame something else, and don’t have to look ourselves in the mirror and say maybe we need to work harder on doing the right thing(s) well. thanks, Greg. Sometimes we have to be reminded of what we know to be the truth
Thank you for your wonderful ideas, I greatly appreciate them and will put them to good use.
Thank you, thank you. Sometimes someone has to smack you up side the head before you know what you are doing wrong. I will put your advice to good use and clean up my act so I can actually complete a project. I was so worried that I wasn’t learning how to use facebook and twitter yet I haven’t even taken my project far enough to need them. Thanks for the poke. I needed it.
F.O.C.U.S. – Follow One Course Until Successful. Well said Greg. Always appreciate the insight.
Thanks as always Greg! I am looking at my white board for my new business that I am pouring all of my energy into, and with the list of 20 things or more to do, it sure is great advice to just focus and knock things off instead of letting them build up. I heard a quote recently by John Assaraf that said “Do less, better, till completion”. Thanks again.
Great! I tend to get disorganized and feel as if I need to always be doing something and everything! I get initial results but building and having lasting results is a challenge for me right now. I know I will gain more knowledge as time goes on everyday. This was a great article. Thank you
very clear and positive. thank you.capp
Hi Greg,
Thanks so much for the message. This has got to be divine intervention. I’ve been driving myself crazy with all the different possibilities out there, all vying for my attention. I am working a full time job while starting my new business, and frankly, following all these different methods has interrupted my focus. A big sigh of relief…Thank you.
Absolutely agree with you! Over the past 15 years of working with organizations of all sizes, the biggest issue I’ve had to overcome has been convincing them it’s best to focus and MASTER one strategy at a time. This single change has allowed me to help clients add an extra zero to their income within a matter of months to a year.
you are a very honest man with genuine advice. God bless <3
Thanks Greg, good to know self flagelation is NOT the way to treat yourself even though we all seem to do it on a regular basis and take pride in it. Great clear message to lose that attitude and clutter that slows us down.
I’ve been drowning in this scenario lately so thanks for the life jacket! Every day there seems to be something new popping up that I “must have” to make my business a success. Overwhelming, crazy-making and right here, right now, I’m taking a breath and stepping away!
Brilliant, practical and concise. THANK YOU.
great article…thanks!
Yes, I think you re right, thank you!
Brilliant, to the point – no fluff – as always with Greg! Thank you for your transparency and authentic, sage advice! I so appreciate your wisdom (and conferences). Greg, you rock!
As always, great timely advice. Thank you
YOUR MESSAGE IS SOOO TIMELY FOR ME! I breathed a very big sigh of relief and will IMMEDIATELY refocus my attention on my ideal clients and my “why”.
Thank you, thank you.
Thanks. This reinforces my decision last week to focus on one area of real estate investing. I’ve been trying to implement several areas and haven’t done a thing. Now, I’m focused and excited about what the future holds in the way of real estate investing.
Thank you very much for this article. A great help!
So true, thanks for this post. The madness stops today.
Very good article and sound advice.
Some points that stuck out to me:
1) Don’t chase shiny objects without purpose or bank on other people’s promises to give you results. Instead, you should produce results through people’s partnerships & products.
2) Focus and go deeper into fewer things instead of superficially dabbling in many things. It seems that becoming a jack of trades & a master of none is not the most effective.
My favorite parts:
They try to learn every kind of tactic and technique possible that promises to bring them closer to their dream of financial freedom and business success — yet ironically, every new thing they pile on their list just weighs them down even more
Without having ANY clear idea about specifically WHY they need to understand it, or how they’re going to apply it.
The pattern is, decide to focus your energy on one thing, instead of spreading and diluting it out over a number of different things.
Thank You for sharing Greg
To the point & timely, as usual, not to mention useful. Thanks for continuing to be you, regardless of what direction you take your business.
I will print it, and put over my desk! Just after reading it I feel better. It’s true, that one finished project is better than 5 in progress. Multitasking is my big problem.
Thank you Greg for this post.
Greeting from Poland.
Here, here!
Greg, you´re right. Me too I find myself in the situation having so many ideas to implement at once which is of course not possible. My goal is to help people creating a passive income stream and to become independent with their own e-commerce-business, and this absolutely riskless. I´d like to give your readers the opportunity of this too, check the catch on http://erfolg2012.10-to-change.com
Sounds so ‘simple’ I shall give it a go.
Great advice. Having just set up a blog and then tried the over complicated process of sending it everywhere “because thats what we should do” I thank you for giving me permission to keep it simple and focus on what I want to achieve.
I think what you’ve written is brilliant — and it makes sense! I’ve written a daily blog for 5 years — and never really thought about how it could increase my business — but then, I’ve never clearly defined the who/what/why of it all! thank you!
Thank you very much for posting this message Greg. It can and is overwhelming trying to wear many different hats. Quite often we will find ourselves latching on, trying to learn, don’t get it, and really do not want to do it… Then giving up because we are frustrated with the half completed goals. Insanity? Yes, trying to do the same thing over and over and expecting magic to happen…So we end up wasting time when we could have been focusing on mastering one thing and then moving on… Thank you for sharing:)
PS. How does this old picture be changed??It was posted by mistake and no longer a part of that company…
Thank you
Awesome info – as always. Thanks Greg.
Great read! Will start implaminting today.Thanks
This concept of ‘commit slowly, complete fully’ can change everything! Four words to revolutionize life. Thanks.
I have been overwhelmed with all the social media hype. It seems like I spend alot of time learning about them and then not implementing. Thanks for the advice.
Awesome! That is the most useful bit of training information I have read in months. The problem is that there is so much free training available and it all sounds so good (in the moment) and you implement the idea, but before you can properly follow up and harvest the results of the plan, you move on to the next idea, etc. This just made me realize that I do not have to do another thing for the holiday sales except follow up on what I have already done! In other words–complete fully. Thank you so much.
Yes, yes, yes. and thank you. I am one of those who has been distracted by all of the shiny new things “guaranteed” to make my life and business better, so I’ve been hopping from one thing to the next hoping to manage all of it, but never mastering any of it. Thanks for the advice and acknowledgement that more people out there than just me have fallen into this trap. From now on I vow to focus on one thing at a time and have a clear idea of why I’m doing it!
Your blog made a sense to me. Focusing on one thing at a time is simple but very effective. I train athletes to become stronger and faster. But I always tell them to work on your free throws constantly to become a better shooter. work on one thing at a time and then move on to the next when it’s time.
God Greg this is SO basic yet needs to be pounded into entrepreneurs heads every single day. Everything that bombards us throughout the day are mostly just distractions. If we don’t get IMMEDIATE results its on to the next thing, then the next and so on. I have wondered how you, Dan Kennedy, Eben Pagan and the rest of the successful business owners have been able to juggle so many “approaches”…well that’s somewhat simple (not easy, big diff)…they did it ONE THING AT A TIME, put a system in place with people to support and then, only then, moved on to the next. Thank you for liberating me today!
Please keep the insight flowing…
What a relief to have you say that just at this point in my business development. I feel so spread out and my instinct is to rein it all back in to a place of simplicity. Thanks for this great post.
Great info. I find myself doing exactly what you said. I cant stay focused on one stategy. I get onething started and jump to the next project and get nowhere.
Thanks Greg
I’ve finally found my business! It’s taken years. But all the while I’ve followed your blog and have considered what you’ve shared. I saw you speak in 2008 in L.A. at Harv Eker’s “Never Work Again.” ( BTW… How is the dog rescue in the Dominican Republic going?) This current blog really hits home for me as I begin to invest my hard earned money into my start-up. I am clear on why I do this and what solution I offer to my market. I appreciate this article as a mantra “Do one thing, do it well, and do it to completion. ONE ~ WELL ~ COMPLETION” A-ho!
greg,
I´m just trying to find some time out of my daytime job to create a small company “to support me and allow me to make the choices I want”, while following my dream and having fun.
your posting takes away some of the pressure, and leaves me empowered.
thank you much!
You make sense and you give some concrete information instead of the superficial generalities. Thanks
So true, focus on one task instead of 10 different tasks doing it without completion. And start from there to another. And you really have to put your mind on one task. It takes a lot of practise, but in the end it`s worthwile. Thanks.
Thanks Greg for calling us all out and that was what i did got FB,TWITTER,ETC.Just for connecting with people that are looking to invest in what i can find and have for them and my down fall is not knowing the computer well like most and what i learn and got results and now is focusing on that next step and just knowing who to trust is my down fall.i like the topic you have choosing to talk about thx
Bobby
I hope everyone on my facebook page sees this blog post Greg! Hats off to you for writing it. The fact that you care so much about other peoples success ‘drips’ off your work.
Thanks Greg. I was all over the place just like you stated and I haven’t been getting the results to grow my business. As a result, I’ve been frustrated. I will now re-read your article and start making some serious changes, like focusing on one project at a time and really putting all my time and energy into making that project a success and then moving on to the next one.
Thank you, Greg, for this valuable info. I already implemented quite a few things from your program (still learning more) and you are the one I got to trust the most. You are honest and streight forward. I like and appreciate that!
Thanks Greg for this message. It is so true, and I have been guilty of it all… too afraid to miss something and then missing it anyway because it isn’t done right or well. It’s time to take that deep breath and refocus my energies on what’s really important and what will generate true results. Many thanks.
I have to agree that people buy solutions and not information.
Well stated, Greg. Masters of any skillset do so one at a time.
Thanks Greg – so important to read this post. There is so much info out there and all promises to be ‘the next best thing’. I agree that it ends up diluting your time and energy leaving you feeling frustrated and lost in a maze of information. This post is very timely and I’m very grateful for it. Thank you for your continued support. I value all I have learned, and am still learning, from you!
Thank you very much for such powerful blog, Greg! I was nearly walking into the same path as other entrepreneurs, that trying to focus on EVERYTHING at the same time and somehow I’ve tried it in short time, I’ve actually noticed that I’ve gotten tired of each of the process so easily. I don’t understand the mechanism of Twitter but due to the popular demand, I thought of trying to build my business through there and at the same time maintaining Tumblr and Facebook. At the end of the day, I guess I’ve exhausted all my energy into focusing so many thing that I don’t really fond of (Twitter for instance. Since I’m still used to Facebook). From now on, I will focus only ONE strategy and generate results from it. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Best Regards,
Tricia
Hallelujah! I tell this to my clients all the time. It can be so overwhelming out there if you let it. Stick to one thing…and I’m the worlds worst offender at not ‘always’ practising what I preach. Thanks for another GREAT post Greg!
Hallelujah? You speak Hebrew? It’s great to see someone else praising Yaveh, even if unintentional.
Very simple, yet profound when executed. I feel that this simple strategy will really make a big difference in my business. I feel the reason it makes so much sense is because success seems to come to those who are NOT doing what everyone else is doing. In this case trying to master every marketing tool; when instead master one at a time. I feel it has become habit for people to want riches so quick they overwhelm themselves.
It makes sense thankyou.
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