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Just Do It! Defeating Perfectionism as a key to success

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One of the reasons I ADORE working with clients is that by working through THEIR marketing issues, I’ve found that I get insight into my own productivity issues.

The most recent "affliction" I’m seeing: the perfectionist bug.  It’s an affliction with which I am VERY well acquainted.

I love the idea of perfection.  I even like to believe that it’s a achievable goal.  My desire for perfection delayed the publication of my book by at least a year and that’s only if you don’t count the near DECADE DELAY they played in WRITING the book.  For many, many years my upcoming book had to be perfect, or I wouldn’t write it at all.

I know that I had worked on the issue with several coaching professionals, each tried DESPERATELY to cure me of the affliction.  However, the real start to my recovery began when I picked up a book at Barnes and Noble.  I can’t even remember the name of the book or even the subject matter, I just remember finding more than one or two typos.  TYPOS!!!  (It wasn’t a self published POD type book either!)  The difference between that gentleman and myself:  his book was published and had been purchased by a total stranger.  My book was still living in my head as a fantasy and nothing more.

It’s only then that all the advice began to sink in… how launching a good marketing campaign today is infinitely better than launching a GREAT one next year.

There is so much I’d do differently if I were writing my book Beyond the Niche today.  (To begin with, I’d name it something more "compelling" like, "How to supercharge your marketing in 10 days or less")  However, had I waited to write the perfect book…. well, I’d still be tweaking the title.

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Does your Word Press Latest Activity Box tell the whole story?

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Most of my clients are boot strapping solo entrepreneurs who want their web site to act as a high voltage marketing tool and while their goal may be to change the world one small act at a time, they don’t see that they have the TIME to blog AND run a business.

I recently ran the visitor statistics for one such client. This client was at a function, handing out her business cards, which included her web site url. We had recently migrated her web site to the blog format so she could make frequent additions to her content. She had dutifully done so, though she wasn’t convinced of the value… until I looked at her log files.

The day of the function, her web site had a LOT of activity. This isn’t unusual, but the number of page views per visitor was. Each visitor was literally CONSUMING the information on her web site… excuse me, her BLOG. It came out to each visitor was reading, on average, 10 posts. (Note: Not ONE of these readers left a single comment on the blog!)

Shortly after the event, she began regular contact with someone she met at the event, probably one of those heavy blog content consumers. I probably don’t have to tell you that her enthusiasm for blogging skyrocketed after that conversation. Just like the person who has been faithfully exercising for weeks or months who pulls on a pair of pants that were previously too small to find they now fit… my client’s enthusiasm for blogging skyrocketed.

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Blogging Metaphor: Blogging is like Exercise

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Liz Strauss has issued a Blogging Metaphor challenge on her blog.  Essential Keystrokes has joined the call with a great analogy on her blog as has Word Sell.

These two blogs use blogging as food metaphors while mine talks to the other side of the coin… exercise.

Yesterday, during a conversation with a client, she commented, "You make it sound like work!" 

My response was, "I’m assuming that if you had an innate love of blogging, you would already be doing it and I wouldn’t have had to work so hard and so long getting you to this point."  (This client’s blog was launched 6 weeks ago and we were working on her very first post.)

There are people who exercise just for the love of moving their bodies.  I am not one of these people.  I exercise because I LOVE what it does for my mind and body.

When I bring up blogging with a client or potential client, the first objection I seem to get is "I don’t have time to blog."  My response is "OF COURSE YOU DON’T! But do you have time to exercise?" 

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Blog Design: How Important Is It?

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I have to admit, since I converted my web site to a blog, I’ve been feeling more than a bit sheepish about  the first impression my blog makes.  

See, I’m really, really, really BUSY creating pretty blogs for my clients. 

BUSTED!!!

As I write that line of BS, I see what I must REALLY think of the design issue.  That design is an also ran.  I MUST if I’d allow my blog to appear looking like this. 

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Is your WEBSITE is a waste of time?

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Great post about When Is Blogging A Waste Of Time? 10 Nasty Examples. The first two are more than enough to weed out about 60% of the blogs I see.

1. When you publish a blog post that provides little or no value to your target audience.

2. When your blog has no clear target audience.

Which got me to thining that these two rules also apply to "When is your WEBSITE a waste of time?"  Because, in essences, blogs are just easy to manage web sites.

I confess.  I am guilty of putting together more than a few web sites for clients that had no clear target audience.  I tried to exorcise those demons by writing a book on the subject.  Because if you want to break through the cacophony that is modern media, you’re going to HAVE to define WHO your target audience is and provide material that the audience finds valuable.

Of course, content is only the first step in the successful web presence.  It’s truly the diamond in the box.  Sure, the presentation of an engagement ring is much more spectacular if the ring is presented in a beautifully wrapped gift box… but if the box contains a ring from a gum ball machine…. well, the pretty wrapper is soon forgotten.

I’ve always told my clients, great web sites are like a three legged stool…. there’s the content leg… the design leg and the coding leg.  Each is essential to keeping the three legged stool standing. 

There are other essential elements to web site succes, but the all have their roots in tightly targeted content that is of signficant value to your target audience.  Your NICHE MARKET, so to speak.  Once you’ve got your niche carved out, then it’s easy to fill in the gaps.