Knocked
Down but Not Out...
Dear
Associate,
In
the Columbia Pictures film Gridiron Gang, juvenile probation
officer Dwayne Johnson challenged his not-yet-hardened teens
to become winners by working together as a football team.
He wanted to give these boys a second chance at life by turning
them into men. It's the classic story of individual transformation
from "me" to "us."
One
of the star players was running back Willie Weathers. In the
beginning of their season he was unable to take a tackle.
He was scared of the hit and usually fumbled the ball. The
opposing team's tacklers would humiliate, embarrass and talk
trash in his face. Definitely no respect.
During
practice, Coach Johnson personally challenged Willie to run
straight at him and knock him back on his butt. Willie charged
at the coach, but got knocked down instead. He picked himself
up and charged again, but got knocked down again.
You
could see the tide turn as Willie's teammates—who chided
him at first—began to side with him because he didn't
give up. After many attempts Willie finally knocked his coach
down and earned his team's respect, his coach's respect and
some self-respect. Willie was not only able to take a tackle,
but dish out a hit at the same time.
But
that's just half the story...
While
learning to work as a team, these gangster wannabes and street
toughs experienced a change of heart. Instead of labeling
everyone else as an enemy, they began to watch each other's
back. They found the potential for human good far outweighed
the negative circumstances in life.
How
does this translate into your business?
The
same principles that transform a street gangster into a team
winner also apply in business. It is these applied principles
that continually make winners when many others decide to quit.
1)
Nothing comes easy. The world does not beat a path to
your door. You must go after it. You must continually market
your products or services. There's no autopilot button. Even
your website needs an action plan to drive traffic to it.
Sure
you should hire consultants who can help you get to profits
sooner. And sure you should attend seminars, workshops and
network with others. But please don't believe a one-time investment
for Search Engine Optimization is the end-all, be-all answer
to your online marketing challenges.
And
when you're raking in your first big paycheck: that's not
the time to stop marketing your business. Use the revenues
and success stories from that venture to leverage your next
marketing promotion. In football, scoring one touchdown usually
doesn't win the game. If you have a 7-0 lead, stalling and
playing it safe usually loses games.
2)
Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken
advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load
of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from
Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and
never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with
the territory.
Cut
your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly
as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something.
You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.
The
more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to
give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke was tanking, they went
back to their moneymaker: Classic Coke. They cut their losses
and returned to profitability.
3)
Avoiding cutting yourself short. When you hire a consultant
or purchase a program to help you save time and money, that's
a good investment. But let's say you need more personalized
coaching that could help you reach your next business goals
sooner—but you decide not to get it (for whatever reason).
You're not going to make much progress. And this stagnation
has a tendency to work against you.
Ford
and General Motors have been #1 and #2 for as long as I've
been alive. Then Toyota came into the picture and is now dominating
the world auto industry. But this didn't happen overnight.
Were Ford and GM sleeping at the wheel living off their past
success while a hungrier Toyota won the favor and pocketbooks
of consumers?
4)
You don't always win. You send out various promotions
and most of the time, they're profitable. Sometimes they're
dismal. And at times, you wonder if the mail clerks were on
strike, or if the computer servers were down, or if they misprinted
your phone number in the ad.
Just
because you showed up doesn't guarantee you're going to have
a winner. The marketplace will decide that for you. You will
gain more experience, savviness and stickiness by making mistakes
than by reading a book. Use the books and resources as head
knowledge, while playing in the marketplace becomes heart
knowledge.
I
believe everyone who plays in the business game will be knocked
around, verbally abused, passed over, ripped off, plagued
with doubts and even question their own resolve. The ones
who get back up and stay in the game to make something of
themselves and to the people they serve become winners. The
choice becomes ours.
Warm
Regards,
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