Say No
“Can I get your name and contact details?” the slim man behind the counter enquired. He slipped a spiral-bound notepad towards me, with the words “Name:”, “Email:”, and “Phone:” scrawled in the top right hand corner.
“No, thank you.”
“Ha-ha! … Wait, really?” He seemed surprised, almost taken aback.
“Yeah, I’m okay without doing this, thank you.” I responded, in my zen-like calm.
I’d just spent an hour in a sensory deprivation tank – a darkened, podlike bath filled with salty skin temperature water made for relaxation and meditation.
It’s an environment that works because it has less: no light, no sound, no hot or cold sensation on your skin, no feeling of gravity on your body as you float high in the super salty bath.
And coming out of the tank, it only seemed natural to want to lighten other loads too – meaning no wondering how my data was going to be used, and no promotional emails or text messages disturbing my days ahead.
But to my deprivation tank assisting friend – it must have been a surprise. After all, I was forgoing opportunities! Like opportunities to receive special offers for future float tank sessions!
I think that – as a species – human beings are drawn to opportunities like moths to flames.
They draw us in, and consume us.
We’re hard-wired to imagine opportunity is valuable – and rarely take the time to consider the greater impact they may have.
When it comes to marketing – there are a lot of opportunities for promoting your business than I think people should say “No” to.
But they don’t.
They can’t help but say “Yes!” to the opportunity to grow their business.
But because it’s the wrong opportunity at the wrong time, it only drags their business down – creating distraction, mental load, cost overhead, and sluggish anti-agility.
To borrow a well-known marketing phrase: “It’s the fish that John West rejects that makes John West the best.”
Likewise, it’s the wisdom to know which marketing opportunities to say “No” to that will make the ones you pursue successful.
If you want a few pointers:
Say “No” to SEO – unless you know the specific words and phrases paying clients are typing into Google.
Say “No” to more leads – unless you have a clear customer journey to turn those leads into buyers.
Say “No” to clever new things – unless they were purpose-designed to solve the specific problem you had before you found out about them.
Say “No” to old way – unless the old way is still the best way.
Say “No” to growth – unless you can handle the extra clients.
Say “No” to podcasts – unless you know how you’ll find an audience.
Say “No” to publicity – unless you have a way to turn publicity into profit.
Say “No” to more information – unless you also create the capacity for more implementation.
Say “No” to doing more marketing – until you’ve got a clear outcome you want to achieve.
Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways we can work together:
1. Work With Me One-on-One
If you’d like to work together on marketing for your business – hit reply and let me know more about what you’re up to, what you’d like to achieve, and I’ll get back to you with the details.
2. Jump On A Call
Having a specific marketing problem? Or just frustrated with your results not being up-to-scratch? Hit reply and we can schedule a time to jump on a call together.
3. Introduce Me to Smart People
If you know someone who is working on improving their marketing right now, I would love to meet them, and share a copy of my first book, Unassailable with them (which is all about the tiny tweaks that make a big difference to your marketing results). Email us both with an introduction.
4. Got a Trade Show or Expo Coming Up?
If you’re organising a trade show booth soon, and you don’t have my latest book (Beyond The Booth) yet, let me know so you don’t go to your trade show “naked”.