2016 was an awesome year, both personally and professionally. From a business standpoint, we are continuing to grow and we’ve added another business partner who brings a whole new dimension to The Quantify Group. On a personal level, I got engaged to my best friend this past summer and God is doing some really cool things as I continue to pursue Him and the outdoors. I wanted to take a minute to reflect on some things that were learned in 2016
Attention is everything in marketing
The more technology is developed – the more “busy” the world gets – people’s attention spans keep getting shorter. Next time you are around a group of people, take a minute to see how many of them are on their phones. To get even more insight, take a quick peek at their screen (in the non-creepiest way). You will most likely find them on a social media platform frantically scrolling through an endless display of posts. The more I paid attention, the more I realized this was happening. So why am I telling you this fact that you are probably already aware of?
If you want to have success marketing your business, you need people to know you exist. In order for people to know you exist, you need to be seen. And where are people spending countless hours a day? On their phones, watching tv or ‘playing’ on the computer. Every good marketer knows this and is flooding these spaces. In order to get seen, you need to capture people’s attention. If you can get someone to stop for 3 seconds on your social media post while scrolling, you’ve won. Do what you please with this information but I can say confidently that marketing in today’s day and age is nothing more than getting attention. As unfortunate as this mode of communication is, there is a way of using it in productive ways.
You can’t please everyone, and that’s okay
When I first started my business I wanted to be everything to anyone. I would often compromise on the services I offered and my price. In business, you are never going to please everyone. Some clients/customers are going to love what you do and some are just won’t. And that is okay! You need to learn how to accept this fact and not let the people who don’t like what you do waste any of your time and energy — nor let them detract from what you’re good at and love to do.
Over the past year we have been fortunate to work with all sorts of companies. We also have had quite a few that just didn’t work out for whatever reason. I have learned that not everyone is going to be a perfect fit. I am very confident in the fact that we are good at what we do but that doesn’t mean we are a good fit for everyone. I have learned how to handle that fact over this past year and simply move on. It is important to learn from failure but to dwell on your mistakes or shortcoming is a mistake. Just stay true to yourself and I promise you will find success.
Networking: quality over quantity
My entire business is built on networking and relationships. When I first started about 5 years ago I wanted to meet everyone and build a relationship with them. While in theory this sounds great, it is simply not practical (nor healthy). I have learned that it is much more beneficial to have a strong relationship with a few referral partners then to simply “know” a few hundred people.
Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly circumstances to meet a bunch of people and expand your network. However, I would encourage you to find the people you trust the most, and spend a majority of your time on building that relationship.
Conclusion
So those are the 3 main lessons I learned in 2016. I hope at least one of them radiates with you. If so, I would love to chat with you and learn about your experience. I love learning, especially from other people’s experiences. I would also encourage you to reflect on your 2016 and the things that you have learned. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we have grown until we take a step back and look at the big picture. I can’t wait to see what lessons will be learned in 2017.
