RE-TWEET IT!
Tweet
Looking back on over a decade of working on the Internet, I realize there’s ONE critical mistake that has been costlier than any other that I’ve made.
This is a blog post about it. Hopefully, there are some lessons here which will help you avoid doing the same. (I drafted it, however, as a reminder to myself – and as a short outline of the steps to take to fix it, and right quick!)
How I Built My Online Network…
In my Web-based universe, there are three kinds of people:
- People who have not heard about me
- People who have heard about me, or know me casually
- People who know me well, and care about my work with heart kids
In the beginning, my aim was to get more folks into the second group… and then move them into the last one.
The steps I took towards this end worked. Soon, I had a few thousand people in my network. Quite a few of them were supporters of my CHD awareness effort.
What I didn’t realize at first, but probably had existed all along, is that there were distinct sub-groups within this core of supporters. Broadly, I see three categories.
- 1. People who care deeply about underprivileged kids, support my work with them, and have changed their lives (personal and business) in some significant way to become a part of it, on an ongoing basis.
- 2. People who care about my work and support it, but have other priorities. They will respond when asked for help, through donations and marketing assistance, but not spontaneously.
- 3. People who once cared about my work with CHD kids, but no longer do – for a variety of reasons.
Why don’t these people care NOW?
Some ‘fell out of love’ with the purpose (spreading CHD awareness and raising funds), or the person (me).
Some shifted tracks in their life and business, finding other worthwhile ventures and causes to support.
And some had only ‘cared’ (or pretended to) for other reasons!
What ‘other’ reasons?
Maybe being seen to support my CHD work gave them a good feeling about themselves, and so they did it for a while.
Maybe they leveraged their association with a good cause to their benefit, until they reached a point where it wasn’t needed any longer.
Maybe it was a way to get and keep my attention, while they piggy-backed on my reach and network to gain an advantage – or until they sold me their product or service.
My Big Mistake
… was in not realizing these nuances.
I assumed (wrongly, in retrospect) that all the people who cared did so for the same reasons.
And that they would continue to care for a long time. Even forever.
Both were mistakes.
In fact, my initial ’strategy’ (if you can call it that) was to reach the people who could reach many more people with the message of CHD awareness – which explained why I entered the Internet marketing space as a specialist in email newsletter (ezine) marketing.
My hope was that, if I helped email marketers learn to become better, more successful, and ensure they could build big lists, they would happily promote my message of CHD awareness to their growing audience – and so the CHD message would gain exposure as my business clients grew more successful.
The Moving Parade
Marketing guru Jay Abraham teaches a concept called the ‘moving parade of life’.
In a nutshell, it means that any population or demographic has a diverse mix of people. It’s like standing by the kerb watching a parade passing by.
Some people in the procession are trumpeters. Others are drummers. A few swirl batons. Others march in unison. And many are just walking along for the fun.
And as the parade passes along, some marchers may pick up batons to swirl; some trumpeters may take a turn at playing drums; or some passers-by may join the march in earnest.
Things change.
Life works like that. People, and their interests, change over time. Some lose interest. Others get interested. The level, intensity and depth of their interest keeps fluctuating.
And this mix in your human social network changes dynamically, constantly.
Understanding that nature of your market helps tailor your marketing message and approach.
How Did This Matter?
The approach I took worked upto a point. But only with the right sub-group of people – those who really cared about helping under-privileged children with congenital heart defects.
The drawback is that this section is always going to be a FIXED fraction of my overall network.
So, if 20% of my audience is made up of loyal supporters of the CHD awareness effort, then when I have 2,000 people on my list, I’ll have 400 supporters… and when this network grows to 10,000 people, there will be 2,000 ‘true fans’.
Also, at a guess, around one-half of the ’supporters’ group will keep shifting in and out of focus. At some times, they will be active in helping spread word. At other times, not quite so much.
That’s just the nature of our human existence, with its multiple distractions, shifting priorities, multi-dimensionality and constantly altering circumstances.
Unfortunately, I came to this realization very late.
Quality Over Quantity
I’ve always been a strong proponent of ‘quality’ over ‘quantity’, and argued that with 100 qualified prospects I can achieve more than with 10,000 random people.
That still holds true.
But even with an emphasis on quality, quantity (numbers) does matter. In a big way.
And that’s where I messed up!
Once I found my 4,000 quality prospects, I eased up on the efforts to attract more people into my network, and chose instead to focus on deepening relationships with those inside it.
That didn’t work too well. Compounding the problem were some significant personal limitations I had to work with.
Accepting My Weaknesses
- I find it difficult to ask for help. With anything. My wife often screams at me for not asking directions, and just driving around in circles.
- I won’t be a pest. I can’t keep on asking people for things when they seem to have cooled off, or lost interest. Maybe with some persistence, they’ll come around. But because I’d be resentful if someone did that to me, I won’t do it to others.
- I won’t change my self to fit someone else’s expectations. Sometimes, statements and blog posts I’ve published based on my observations of distasteful practices in the online marketing space has caused heartburn, which reflected in people’s support for my CHD work. So be it.
Creating Evangelists?
Chet Holmes says, in a business context, that it takes an inordinate and disproportionate amount of effort and expense to go from ‘mediocre’ to merely ‘good’ – while it’s relatively easier to go from ‘good’ to ‘great’.
That applies to other situations as well.
When someone is already a fan, they don’t need much by way of involvement, encouragement and engagement to continue – while it is nearly impossible to shift someone who is barely curious about CHD as a concept, and turn them into raving evangelists for sick kids!
If I had worked to grow my network bigger, then the chances are that the same fraction of the larger group would fall into the ‘loyal supporter’ group… but because of sheer network size, I would have a bigger number of them in my circle of influence.
I need more of this kind of people to scale the work I’m involved in, to make a meaningful difference, and to reach my ambitious goals of sponsoring heart surgery for 47 children every year, if not more.
Living With The Moving Parade
As I fleshed out this post, the solution grew increasingly obvious. All I have to do is…
To grow my network… BIGGER.
Much bigger.
And that’s the focus I’m taking now. With very ambitious targets. The good news is that, because I’ve done it before and know how to do it, I know it’s only a question of playing the game on a bigger scale.
- It’s the reason I invested into learning from traffic master Jon Mizel, in his ADVANCED Traffic Evolution course.
- It’s why I will be using exciting new ways to build and grow my list in the weeks to come.
- It’s also the reason I’ll be shifting the way I interact with my present audience from a ‘intensely personal’ approach to one that’s more segmented, and structured towards focusing on the ‘true fans’.
I’m inviting YOU to be a part of this future. A future that will touch and change a child’s life. Help create an entire generation of healthy youngsters who, before now, had little to hope for.
A chance to make a meaningful difference – and heal a child’s heart.
You can get started by subscribing to my email list, or following this blog’s RSS feed, or joining my networks on social media like Twitter, Facebook or many more.
And if you too are looking to make an impact, as a business owner or a social entrepreneur, then there’s probably a lesson for you in this long ramble.
Please share your thoughts and feedback by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
Comments on this entry are closed.