Few people really want to be described as “being lazy,” but there are sometimes it’s actually a smart thing to do.
It is NOT a good idea to be lazy if nothing is getting accomplished in the process. Sometimes, we feel burnout and need to recharge our internal batteries. When we’re feeling drained, this might be okay, but if we’re not drained and still not getting things done, that’s L-A-Z-Y in entirely the wrong way.
However, there is another way that many people are lazy but will almost never get that label. These are the “hard workers.” People who work hard complete a lot of activity, but they are only sometimes as productive as they could be.
Suggestion: Never be lazy about evaluating and focusing on your goal(s).
Maybe the only way to accomplish this is to keep doing exactly what you’re doing and work hard, but as a marketing guy, I have a few other ideas that you might want to consider…at least as far as marketing your business.
1. Hire (or Recruit) People to Help You
2. Testing & Tracking Data
3. Center of Influence Marketing
Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
1. Hire (or Recruit) People to Help You
If you’ve never hired anyone before, the first time or two it’s scary.
Nobody wants to spend money they don’t have. If you’re not a great salesperson, then ANY business (and therefore money) you get is going right into your own pocket, not anyone else’s right?
There is a reason that the Ford Motor Company took off when it did. When Henry Ford instituted “division of labor” and hired people are above-market value wages, his workers became “loyal” to him and his company.
Sure you might be able to free labor from some interns, but how devoted to YOUR cause will they be?
If you pay people to do work, it’s amazing how effectively things get done. You have to do a good job of finding the right people to do the work, but once you do, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to do it.
Marketing is an incredibly interesting field on a lot of levels, but let’s face it: a lot of things in marketing are BORING. If it is hard or boring, we’re probably not going to do a lot of it. If we try, we are not likely to be efficient at it.
Hire someone else do the things you need and don’t really want (or have time) to do. Yes, you’re being “lazier,” but your company marketing will improve dramatically.
It seems like it’s lazier to hire someone else to do something, but your business is actually getting more things done.
2. Testing & Tracking Data
Most of us know that we’re supposed to test things and track data, but I’ve noticed that only a few of us do it.
If I’m being honest, even I am only good about tracking data for some of my projects.
Not Tracking Data = Being lazy the WRONG WAY
Tracking Data = Opportunity to be lazy in the RIGHT WAY
What does tracking data have to do with “being lazy?”
Without tracking your data, what’s the only way to duplicate any success you have? You have to do EVERYTHING, EVERY TIME.
I don’t know about you, but I’m too lazy for that to appeal to me.
If you setup your data that your tracking to answer questions, then make sure that you’re reviewing that data to find the answers to those questions.
Most often for me, the questions I’m trying to answer are
a. What is working?
b. What is NOT working?
Essentially, I only really care about one thing. What are the things I SHOULD be doing?
Once I find that answer, I stop doing everything else.
I’m too lazy to do things that I know are not working, but I’m pretty sure that’s being lazy in the right way. Maybe that’s not intelligent, but I’m not foolish enough to do activities I know aren’t producing.
Do you really want to have to keep doing “everything?” Unless you test new things and track data, you’ll risk getting fewer results if you ever stop doing everything.
It seems like it’s more work to setup testing, but it’s actually more work to keep doing everything.
3. Center of Influence Marketing
When I take a look at the most successful people, I see one things that is the same, regardless.
When most business owners or managers want more clients, they look to themselves to “work harder” to get them. Maybe they need to make more calls, put out more things on the Internet, send out more emails, or maybe even network more often.
None of these things are bad, but there is something else that you might want to consider.
Do you know anyone who just seems to know a lot of people? Do you know anyone who seems to have a tremendous amount of influence over the people who follow them or are part of their group(s)?
A friend of mine calls these types of people “centers of influence.” These people are well-connected to many people and well-respected by many people.
What if you did a good job for this “center of influence” person? What if you did such a good job for this person, they started telling people around them about you?
Do you think that some of those “followers” might be a little more interested in you?
It’s called an endorsement, but it’s the type of endorsement we’ve always wanted, but for some reason many of us fail to chase after it.
Maybe we have to work a little harder to impress this person who is at the center of a lot of people, some of whom they influence heavily. Once we have them in our corner, imagine how much LESS WORK we have to do convincing the people around them to consider using our service or trying our product.
Would you rather make 1000 pitches, or would you rather make a pitch to 20 people that influence 50 people each?
More importantly, which do you think would be a more effective way to market your business? You’re “reaching” the same number of people, but many of these people are receiving your message from someone they trust (more than you, as the stranger).
Which takes less work? Which is more effective?
You can keep doing everything yourself, but if you have key people help trumpet what you offer to other people, your business will be more productive, less “lazy.”
Being lazy isn’t always everything it’s cracked up to be. In fact, sometimes, it’s the only intelligent way to market.
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