<p><strong>Quick: How is becoming an ace marketer like writing a novel??</strong></p>
<p><strong>Long hours?</strong> Yup.</p>
<p><strong>Roller coaster ride?</strong> Yup.</p>
<p><strong>Task complexity the rough equivalent of climbing Mount Everest in your gym shorts?</strong> Yup.</p>
<p>But the most important similarity between the marketing quest and creating a long-form piece of art may be this one: <strong>You can’t <em>make</em></strong> <strong>it happen</strong>.</p>
<p>This point came home to me in a conversation with my friend Michelle, who recently quit her day job to finish the novel/memoir she’s been developing for years.</p>
<p>“I didn’t ‘produce’ much today,” she said. “I wrote in my journal and went for a long walk.”</p>
<p>My own day came flooding back on me. What had I, the Ace-Marketer-in-Training, done?</p>
<ul>
<li>Sent my one-pager to some organizations I hope will invite me to speak (for free!)</li>
<li>Dropped emails to a few prospects asking if they’re ready to begin speaker coaching (maybe, maybe not)</li>
<li>Scheduled coffee with a colleague to discuss possible maketing synergies (do you ever feel like the entire world is looking for marketing synergies?)</li>
<li>Checked in on some former clients (keeping those relationships rolling...)</li>
</ul>
<p>Was this a ‘productive’ day?</p>
<p>Who knows!</p>
<p>Like Michelle, my writer friend, I can measure my day in numbers (words written, clients contacted, leads generated, etc.), but we all know that numbers don’t tell the true story. </p>
<p>That’s because, like novel writing, “marketing” (a/k/a relationship-building) depends on probable odds and the long arc of time. In both cases, you’re betting that thousands of hours of work and non-work (a/k/a reflection) will add up to a coherent, compelling story with a happy ending. </p>
<p>In my case:</p>
<ul>
<li>Odds are, a former client will call me soon to reactivate.</li>
<li>Odds are, I will soon land a speaking gig.</li>
<li>Odds are that right now, somewhere in the world, a satisfied customer is referring me to a friend or colleague who will someday call... or mention my name to someone else... or think of me five years from now... and so it goes. </li>
</ul>
<p>Did the actions I took today—the messages in a bottle that I tossed—make these outcomes more likely (or more likely to happen sooner)?</p>
<p>I believe they did, but my faith is just that: faith. In myself, in what I offer, and in the long arc of probability, cumulative effort and time.</p>
<p>So I’ll keep sending out those messages (and faithfully tracking them), even while I know that the true storyline is out of my hands.</p>
<p>But first, I’m going out for a long walk.</p>
2009-02-17T21:15:17Z
-11.17
754
3209
true
4
12262
you-cant-make-it-happen
7
2009-02-18T17:00:00Z
When it comes to networking, how do you measure "productivity"? Well, how do novelists do it? For them (like us) the real question may be: Should we even try?
You Can’t MAKE It Happen
0
2009-02-18T19:22:17Z