"Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year - and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! " - Tony Robbins Tighten the parameters. Mr. Robbins was right, but I'd tighten the parameters while keeping the ratio. It's crunch time people and I think most of us overestimate what can be done in a day and underestimate what can be done in a month.
Everyday frustrations. When we plan our days, at least when I do, I tend to have very ambitious lists of task to be completed in a finite amount of time. The same happens with my people. I am demanding and try to push them as hard as possible to achieve.
One of my most frequent frustrations is if we don't get through the list! No matter how far I overestimated our abilities in the list's creation. I thought we could get 10 things done, but really it's 6 things done well.
Marketing presents infinite options and time requirements. Face it: You could spend 40 hours a week on marketing without getting all the options done. It is a limitless task! To be effective and not go crazy, you have to set limits and make decisions NOW before the height of the season.
A brief aside: I remember one season where I told all my ad reps to call me if they had "Fire Sale" deals. They called every week and I nearly bought them all. (TERRIBLE PLAN, McPherson!) Now I set the advertising budget and plan early, while I can really think about the options. I choose and stick with it. I love new ad reps calling me and I say, "The budget is set for the year, send me an email next February."
Anyway, marketing could take your whole life. When you get ready to work on marketing or PR it can seem insurmountable. You could say, "I'm going to call 50 newspapers today!" and I assure you you will give up before you hit 15. You will overestimate what you can do in a single day.
However, If you call 2-3 media outlets per day from now until pumpkin season, you will have reached nearly 100 potential media promoters and never made more than 3 calls a day. Do not underestimate what you can do in little chunks over time.
See your achievements as stepping stones over time.
1. Need to write an email to your customers? Pick 1 hour per week - NO MORE and schedule it like a doctors appointment.
2. Need to update your web site? Only do 2 pages per day for two weeks and you'll find 28 pages done before you're busy.
3. Need to make brochures? Make one brochure now and proof and finish it tomorrow.
4. Need to do public relations? Pitch just one story every two weeks through the end of the season, and you'll have pitched 13-15 story ideas.
5. Need to train employees? Train a maximum of three employees per day for the next three weeks. That plan gets you through 60+ trainees, more than many of us employ!
A brief aside: One of my tricks for motivating myself if I have an ad, brochure or letter that needs written, but I can't bring myself to do it, is to make the new needed file and save it under the new name. Even if I leave and come back to it, it's started and somehow that makes it easier to finish. Another motivational speaker called this "Puncturing the project." It becomes less arduous if you've done something.
You can accomplish WAY more than you think over time, but you have to start today. Getting yourself short on time compresses your ability to succeed. Remember that in everything, especially in marketing, one big splash doesn't make your season, it is continuous, consistent incremental progress that leads to long-lasting success.
Just get something from your big project done everyday.
Have a great week.
Hugh
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PPPS If you missed the "Goal without a plan is a wish" live event, we recorded it for you to view anytime!
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