Last week at a lecture, the speaker said that if we are not getting the answers as to why we’re struggling with something in our life or in our business, we should ask ourselves three questions:
First, why do I need an answer to this?
Second, do I already have the answer to this?
Third, will I be okay if I never get an answer?
I want to focus on the second question, since there’s a really key BUSINESS lesson in this and possibly the answer to a lot of your current misery.
Lemme ’splain…
Over the years in counseling quite literally thousands of MSPs on marketing and sales, I’ve watched them PAY for my advice, go to great inconvenience and expense to fly across the country to have me hand them the playbook, coach them on implementation, and get all their questions answered.
Yes, it’s often unglamorous, methodical, “not-very-sexy-but-absolutely-works” kind of stuff. Plus, it will take time and effort and, yes, you WILL have to talk to people.
Problem is, they often don’t like that answer.
So, they cherry-pick what I told them to do and only do what’s easy, cheap, and convenient. They get frustrated because they’re not getting results, and lurch to another guru or method. What if we hired a cheap telemarketer from the Philippines? What about this SEO guy who promises page-one rankings in 90 days? What about this agency that’ll “handle everything” for $3,000 a month, no commitment, all guaranteed?
Then they join three Facebook groups and Reddit and crowdsource a strategy from people whose biggest credential is having an opinion.
Each time, they are not searching for better advice; they are searching for easier advice. There is a gargantuan difference between those two things, and most people never notice they’ve crossed that line.
Dan Kennedy had a phrase for this. He called it “answer shopping.”
It’s the relentless pursuit of a second, third, fourth, and fifth opinion—not to get more accurate guidance, but to eventually land on guidance that matches what you already wanted to believe. More accurately, what you wanted to AVOID having to do. What you really want is permission to stay comfortable. And guess what? You can always find a person who will give you that. The Internet has no shortage of people waiting to take your money and tell you what you want to hear.
The diet industry figured this out decades ago. Remember Atkins? Stop eating carbs and you’ll lose weight. No measuring, no counting calories, no gym, no limits on amounts you can eat, so you’re not hungry—just don’t eat the roll. Have that cheeseburger with mayo, bacon, and cheese sans the bread and congratulate yourself on your amazing discipline.
Brilliantly simple, until your cholesterol reads like a phone number, your breath could drop a full-grown elk at thirty feet, and your cardiologist is referring to you as “my new boat payment.” But what the heck, your pants fit!
Or how about the fat-free craze? My favorite was the “fat-free” chips Frito-Lay put out called “Wow!” chips that used a synthetic fat substitute that your body didn’t absorb. Awesome, until the manufacturer acknowledged the ingredient “may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools,” which was a polite way of warning consumers about the potential for anal leakage. Perfectly fine…until you sneeze. Just don’t wear white pants… Bottom line is this:
The advice that will actually fix your marketing and grow your business is almost always the advice you have already been given and have refused to act on.
Not because you couldn’t understand it.
Not because you’re a special little skittle whose situation is “different.”
Just because it’s not the one you want to hear.
There’s a reason the most successful members in this community aren’t the ones who came in with the best instincts or the most resources. They’re the ones who stopped auditing the answer. They got the advice. They didn’t love it. They did it anyway.
Funny how that works.
