I have been in business for a very long time. There is a lesson that I have learned, supported by many other business people who have made it, that you must understand in order to get your business “unstuck”. It goes like this…
Get the important things 80% right and see how well they work before you obsess about getting each piece perfect.
If your concept isn’t working, contrary to what advertising, SEO, marketing and web firms will tell you, no amount of “look” or money is going to make it work. Until you get the message right, the business will remain stagnant. Only YOU can find that message. Those guys listed above can sell it only if it will sell.
Did you hear that?
Advertising can only sell something that will WILL sell. Advertising does not make something sell.
If you get things into okay shape and start to see results, refine the message. You can refine the other stuff later. Don’t waste time on the remaining 20% when it’s the message that matters.
Many businesses, large and small, have failed by trying to find the right advertising strategy when they should have been tuning the offer—the product or service.
Here’s the really dangerous news.
The 80/20 rule is everywhere.
20% of your web copy convinces 80% of your site visitors to call you or to leave your site. 20%. No, not the last 20% you add. 20% of what’s there.
This means you could cut 80% of the content on your site without seeing much change. You can improve just 20% and see a big change!
For most, this will be too hard to grasp. The true entrepreneur will get it.
Chris Reich, TeachU