“Starting is the Hardest Part.” Cowboy Bob
If starting were easy, I guess more people would do it.
Starting is hard because it is an invitation to change – the hardest thing in the world to create. It’s motto: Resistance is futile!
And looking at all the diet books, how to do anything books, etc. you might agree.
Starting is hard in the marketing arena specifically, because of the questions you must answer. These are questions that you think you know (usually don’t) or have no clue how to find.
One vexing question might be: Who is your target client?
If you run a medical practice, your first answer might be everybody. You think: ” We welcome all patients, all our patients need us – right?” This goes also for accountants, wealth managers, etc.
BUT…you do want paying patients – right? At least enough to pay salaries, keep the lights on, and have a little or more left over. So now I leave you to redefine who your target client is. You can have a few, but they should have specific, narrower characterisitcs. I leave you to think about that. This is where starting often turns into procrastination.
The second reason starting is so hard relates to the law of least resistance.
The first inclination of many people when faced with a task as complex as creating marketing strategy, tactics, developing a website, creating marketing collateral is to ignore all of it and not do anything.
All of these things cause the necesscity for deep thinking which is the seed of developing solid differentiation, And, it’s hard, especially if you have expertise in a cetain profession but not marketing. At that point, it helps to have a guide.
Finally, marketing is hard because it does not give instant gratification. It’s a long strategy that will have tactical succcesses along the way, and it takes time to kick in.
It is not someting that will give you instant sucdess no matter how many magazines or books tell you it will. Ideas and differentiation take time to develop well. Branding takes time to register in memory. Trust isn’t developed overnight. Trial and error is involved – we’re dealing with human beings here – enough said.