We want an easy equation. If I do this one thing, I’ll get customers. Or, if I do these 2 things, I’ll get customers – or maybe it’s 3 things, 3 things would be fine.
But it’s not like that anymore.
I imagine an old west town and you’re the one person who provides a service, so you get the business. Or maybe there are 2 or 3 people and you all split it. We’re so far from those days. We’re also so far from the days of dozens to choose from in the Yellow Pages. Those were much simpler times too.
Now, the information age and flooded inboxes, spam emails, spam text messages, a ridiculous number of social media ads (where are my friends’ posts again), and sponsored listings before the “real listings” on Google. Everyone is trying to figure out the formula; even if you’re lucky enough to find it, it changes in a flash.
Technology changes, and in some ways our brains change with it, but much of how our brain works is the same as it has always been. It’s just that the environment and what we’re exposed to is different – so so different. It’s 7 things, or it’s 9 things or it’s one really really powerful thing delivered at the exact moment it’s needed.
But the only sustainable thing is building a brand.
A brand has stickiness. A brand requires a vision and a mission and most of all it requires consistency.
We can play the short game and win with something catchy or some click-bait if we’re lucky. But the only way to win the long game is to play the game for a long time.
