You know what? I'm not perfect.
I know—shock horror, right? There you were thinking I don't go anywhere without my hair being perfectly coiffed and my outfit precisely coordinated. To dispel that myth, you'd only have to catch me on the way to the pool in the morning minus makeup, with bed hair, shorts and flip flops :) I'm not quite at my business celebrity best then, for sure!
I also don't get it right all the time in my business either. I've launched products that don't sell. But then I've launched others that sell lots. I've done marketing that's worked like a dream and other times it's bombed!
Sometimes I even forget my own advice! Yeah, that's me—giving out the good stuff then forgetting to 'listen to what I know'. Ha ha. Hmm... pay attention, Lucy.
But here's the thing: when something doesn't work, I don't give up... I adapt. I change what I'm doing, I make the best of it. So maybe running an event in the summer holidays meant I had a smaller audience than usual, so I adapted: I ran a workshop-style event—no PowerPoint, just flip charts and lots of interaction. And it worked. And yes, there was a point where I thought I might have to cancel the event, but I didn't.
And you know what? It's totally OK to make mistakes. How else are you going to test your market and find out what works and what doesn't? If you want to stand out and get noticed you'll need to do things differently from time to time.
Be different and don't be afraid if you 'get busted'. Of course if you're smart, you try out the idea first. Put out feelers, ask existing clients, see if there are any expressions of interest... just don't go build the wrong thing before you've shared the plan at least.
Just as I was taught as a Girl Guide (yes, I was one!)—"Be Prepared". Anything could happen... just be ready to adapt and take it in your stride, whichever way it goes.
You're only busted if you can't adapt.
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