DISQUS

Will · 1 year ago

How odd that you'd write about this concept today! I read about it earlier this week. Also earlier this week, I came across a list of activities over at Free Money Finance that talk about increasing your blog's traffic.

I have a new blog that I'm trying to get off the ground, and I've tried finding the "quick fix" that would give me instant results, to no avail. Actually it's been the daily stuff that has yielded the most results. So I'm definitely going to take this one step further and have a daily list of traffic building activities (ON PAPER!) and run it every single day to see what the results are.

Great timing!

Mark Olsen · 1 year ago

Good sound advice.

Little changes make a big difference.

Mark

Mark Nagurski · 1 year ago

Kaizen - I'll have to remember to use the term as it's something I talk about a lot with clients.

For a lot of small business owners, the sheer number of marketing options - and the risk of getting it wrong - create a form of marketing paralysis.

Short of having someone to take it all off their plate (an unhealthy option IMO) small daily improvements has to be the best option.

DunCAN · 1 year ago

Kaizen - we all need to get that happening in our personal lives as well as our business. Imagine what you could achieve then! D :)

Karen · 1 year ago

Just some clarifications - being Chinese, actually the characters 改善 are Chinese characters (in the language of Japanese they also use Chinese characters as well) and we have the same meaning of "improve" (as a verb and noun).... :p

And yes, I also agree this is a very important concept, esp. for Marketing too!

Linda P. Morton · 1 year ago

John,

You're right. Marketing has to be done everyday. There is no quick fix.

Marketing also requires a plan or strategy. I see many small business owners jumping from one tactic to another and getting nowhere.

I also like your advice about doing what's uncomfortable. We're all guilty of doing what we find comfortable and avoiding what we don't.

But it's also important to focus on the two or three things that you are good at and making them the core of your marketing - the things that you do everyday.

In time those efforts begin to have a cumulative effect.

web Content · 1 year ago

Great advice... Get out of your comfort zone, 'cos if you're comfortable, you're stagnant... And thats just a couple steps from decay...
Thanks John.... I know I can depend on Duct tape marketing for a good thought pretty much everyday

John Jantsch · 1 year ago

@Karen - thanks for the clarification - it's really a wonderful concept regardless of the language isn't it?

Mark Raleigh · 1 year ago

Mark, you took the words out of my mouth. Learning to do things one day at a time instead of all at once is one of those lessons that has an incalculable amount of 'cash value', both in the monetary and William James senses of the term.

Leah McChesney · 1 year ago

I think it is great that you are telling business owners to take it one step at a time, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the big picture.

John Gillett · 1 year ago

Thanks for the post -- the concept of continual improvement is key to most worthwhile enterprises in life, and marketing is no exception. Nobody jumps straight to the top of the mountain...it can be a process that is more powerful than actually reaching the summit.

Put another way, a little marketing every day can lead to a lot of sales down the road...

Jacques Snyman · 1 year ago

Duct Tape Marketing...the name reminds me of racing cars held together with duct tape and silicone...do you guys have anhy idea how many applications duct tape has? Definitely a must for everyone's toolbox, including an internet marketer, and general small business marketers...if the budget is stretched, patch it with duct tape....ahahahaha

Tom "theToolman" · 1 year ago

Hi John

What a great article, I especially liked the part about interlocking your fingers and crossing your thumbs to create an uncomfortable feeling...

Thus showing marketers that it will be uncomfortable but it wont kill you!

I will have to referr my list to this blog so they can see how to deal with change and uncomfortable excercises to bring them back to reality!

I Love it...

One way I found that was an easy way to market, and that everyone could do... How do I know anyone can do it, because I am a disabled construction worker with no sales skills or knowledge... For all intense and purposes construction guys are referred to as big and dumb!

So you see I can say that anyone can give away a valuable, and unique freebie to build their contact list and business to heights that you can only imagine!

Go here to get a very valuable and unique freebie that will blow your mind!

Visit our:
Business/Calling Cards Website!

This is Brand NEW, and just launched so be sure to be the first to take advantage of this aggressive marketing tool today!

I also have a free report that will aid you in effectively and aggressively marketing your business with your business cards...

Free Aggressive Marketing Report!

Keep up the great work John!

"To Your Greater Success"

Tom "theToolman" CEO
Innovative Internet Marketing Tools!
Toll Free 1-866-602-6411 or 248-232-0635

Marketing Integrity · 1 year ago

Regarding: "If you’re not stretching enough to make yourself just a little uncomfortable, you’re not growing, you’re not moving forward."

That is the essence behind starting your own business...and boy do you grow and move forward through that!

Increase Sales Coach · 1 year ago

Great article. That's exactly what happens. Business owners realize if they want to do what they love to do they have to figure out how to effectively market themselves or they'll never get to do it.

It's the actions you take day in and day out that determine your success not the one hit wonders. The only people getting rich from get rich quick marketing schemes are the people selling them.

Mike Michalowicz · 1 year ago

I like the example with the handclasp. It made it very obvious to me how comfortable I am with routine.

free surveys mentor · 1 year ago

You have to build your business day by day, step by step, this is very true!
Unfortunately nowadays people have less time so they want results fast and easy but thats not the way to go...

I think we need more exercises not to forget the lesson :)

Stephanie Cox · 1 year ago

Great advice!
That worried feeling can drive you, but so can the feeling of you winning a new client or making a big sale!

Kenneth · 1 year ago

Great post.
I definitely agree that it's the little things that will get your business to the next level.

Most people say that you can replicate success by using tried and true methods. It works in some cases but if you want to take your success to a whole new level, you need a big idea.

But, you don’t sit there and meditate and suddenly one big idea comes out...

No, really. It doesn’t happen like that.

There are some who can generate brilliant, problem-solving profit-booming ideas, instantly. However, the rest of us mere mortals need to keep trying and pushing.

You sit down, and generate 50 ideas. Or 100 ideas. Or even better, 300 ideas. And from there, I bet you that at least one of them will be good enough to explode your business to the next level. That’s the foundation –it’s always a numbers game.

Funnel vision is a concept by Jay Abraham, the basic idea of which is this: if you look outside your own field into another domain, whatever is there –their cliches and norms –take them and apply them to your field and your products will soar.

You can generate ideas to boost your business in 2 ways: from the inside looking out, or from the outside looking in.

You can generate a lot of ideas using these two techniques. Listing the norms may take you a while, and just by twisting them you already have 20-30 ideas off the bat.

Ideas to Build Your Business.

Fern · 1 year ago

Just read this today (Monday morning) and it was the jolt I needed to get moving at work. It's a rainy cool Monday and my dog and bed are just a staircase away. I was very tempted to get a magazine and just snuggle with the dog -- but now I'm going to make my "to do list" and get going.
Thanks!!
PS: Can I uncross my hands now? : )

JudyAnn Lorenz · 1 year ago

Thank you for the little bit at a time thinking. I'm currently at a fulltime job trying to subsidize my own stuff. The big plan gets overwhelming and I know that the things I do are compatible with the idea of a steady bit at a time system.

Steady is the key point; remember the tortoise and the hare.

Sundi D. Hayes · 1 year ago

I bet you never thought you'd provide a parenting tool through your blog, did you? I've been trying to teach my 10-year-old son about goals and how they need to at least slightly push you or they aren't worth the time you spent thinking about them. I'm going to try the threaded fingers on him and see if he'll finally get it! Hey, if mom can build a business surely I can get my 10-year-old to step out of his comfort zone!

Create an amazing day!

John Jantsch · 1 year ago

@Sundi - Of course I did - all this stuff is just life with different jargon wrapped around it anyway isn't it?

Chuck Jeffery · 10 months ago

John: Thanks for your perspective on continual improvement. The concept and your post are timeless. And as you and your readers have pointed out, the concept applies to every aspect of life. We don't have to do it all at once; we will make progress moving forward a little ever day.