One of the best things about having your own business is that you do not have a boss telling you that your idea isn’t any good.
You have the freedom to come up with all these ideas, but do you take action?
This morning Kay Lam-MacLeod, known as @IDEALAW tweeted:
“Over the years I’ve seen countless GREAT IDEAS from innovative people. But ACTION is the key. What great idea will you act on this week?”
Her tweet got me thinking how this applies in all areas of business especially marketing.
Ideas, which in this case I am going to apply to marketing tactics, come at you with such speed and volume that it can be rather overwhelming.
I have even seen an offer to get you to sign up to a newsletter – a great marketing idea sent to you every week for a year.
As there are no shortages of ideas coming at you, how do you sort through them and take action on the ones that apply?
I think it comes down to a couple of questions:
- Will this idea benefit your business and customers? Just because someone says this is a great marketing idea doesn’t mean it is right for you.
- Can you put it into action within your time or money budget?
If you answer yes then it is time to get into action and one of the easiest ways to do this is to break the action into small steps. This gives you movement and you will start seeing results which keeps you focused on putting the ideas into action.
One point about the small steps approach is to make sure you have a deadline written down and put a timing against each small step, otherwise you will not follow through.
If you have another way of sorting through all the ideas and taking action, don’t forget to leave a comment.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kay Lam-MacLeod, Susan Oakes. Susan Oakes said: Too Many Ideas and Not Enough Action http://bit.ly/8ZaY99 [...]
Hi Susan. Another highly resonant post. I get heaps of ideas – most of them dumb. Yet I have trouble letting them go, as I might miss the ONE GOOD ONE. So, I get up at dawn and try them ALL out. Even the really crap ones. The vast majority die with a whimper. But each demise gets me closer to the 10,000th one that will WORK! Highly inefficient,to be sure. But a better use of my time than PlayStation! Best regards,P.
Hi Paul,
I don’t think ideas are ever dumb and at least you try them out rather than just let them go by or as you say play Playstation. Have you ever tried looking at them in the context of what you want to get from them?
Good question, Susan! I have the cliched goal of creating passive income from high quality content. Anything that offers a chance of doing this legally and ethically gets a try from me. So far, only mirages in the desert. One day, maybe …
I know people use the word passive, but it isn’t when you think of all the worl that goes into it to begin with. I have a thought for you (didn’t want to use the idea word) so will email you later today.
Cool! Looking forward to it!
Susan,
Hah! I read your mind and knew you were posting today even before you uploaded to BizSugar!
Firstly, Not having a boss tell you your ideas are no good is indeed great! Conversely, not having a boss think your ideas are great and pass them off as his or her own is also great! I’ve had this happen. The last time it was my impetus to quit and become a freelancer!
You are so right about the small steps and the action plan. I tend to be a procrastinator as many are. I tend to get ideas and say…tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes next week, next month and next year!
I will take your great advice among which is to start issuing myself deadlines. Many thanks to my friend and esteemed “Marketing Coach!”
Yoni
Thanks as always my friend for commenting. If we are honest I think most of us procrastinate from time to time or at least I know I do.
When I first started out in marketing I was taught about the small step approach although we called it Work in Progress. I will send you a form that I use that may help you.
Regards,
Susan
Too Many Ideas and Not Enough Action…
One of the best things about having your own business is that you do not have a boss telling you that your idea isn’t any good. You have the freedom to come up with all these ideas, but do you take action? As there are no shortages of ideas coming at y…
Hi Susan,I must admit I am an ideas person, so one idea often leads to a whole ream of them. When in this bigger picture mode of thinking I chunk it down into what needs to be done now, what’s the first step.
Ensha
Thanks for your comment Ensha and “chunking’ was the word I was looking for when I wrote the post.
One question for you, do you then chunk down each step or just concentrate on the next step?
I do one step at a time, like walking. I find this keeps me present, and therefore I have more energy for whatever needs to be done.
If I find myself getting caught up in the detail, I chunk it up, to get a bigger higher view.
Ensha
[...] How to take action. Having ideas is great. It’s one of the best parts about owning or running a small business. There’s no one to say no, and you can try anything to see what works. But, says Susan Oakes, what’s most important is that you do take action on something. Here’s more on how. M4B Marketing [...]
Sure enough! I fall victim to that myself. Tons of ideas and very few of them get any action…
.-= Chris Mower´s last blog ..How to Brainstorm for Success: Part 1 – An Introduction to Brainstorming =-.
Hi Chris,
I think we all do from time to time. I like your website by the way.
Thanks for commenting.
You can have as many ideas as you want; but it’s the execution that counts ; )
Good motivational read, thanks.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comment and you are right about the execution. Once you get the results it can actually spur you on to more ideas and action I have found.