I am spending some time in Iowa for the first time ever…
Several years ago, I passed through here non-stop on my motorcycle. I didn’t see much of anything of interest.
This trip is different. I am stopped and my RV is located on the top of a hill where I can see for what seems to be miles and miles.
It’s springtime in these hills and the farmers are busy planting crops.
They have been patiently waiting for the winter cold to move on out of the area and the soil to dry out to an ideal moisture content for the germination of the seeds.
Everywhere I look I can see tiny moving specs of color on the brown fields that I know are tractors and planters busily swinging the crops in a meticulous fashion.
In a few short days, the planting will be completed and the farmers begin the long, slow process of caring for the fledging young stalks to grow into a bountiful yield.
Talk about faith. The hard-working farmers will be watching the weather for rainstorms, windstorms, insects, drought, and tornados, knowing that at the end of the day, there may be nothing they can do to save their crops in the event of a natural disaster.
Making it even more interesting is the dependency the farmer has on a good crop yield in order to support his business and his family.
Is there any better example of faith in action?
Faith is such a critical piece of business success.
We can put marketing plans, for instance, in place and run promotions to grow our business. We can hope for, and dream of immediate results so we can pay the bills and grow the business.
Yet, at the end of the day results almost always come after a patient investment of time.
We hear of the few and far-between instances where seemingly miraculous results occurred after a new marketing plan was instituted, but like the hail-mary pass in football, such occurrences are the unusual and not the ordinary.
Marketing a business, like the football analogy is primarily a ground game. Success comes one play, or in the case of a business, one strategy at a time.
It’s human nature to want to believe otherwise. Savvy promoters take advantage of this aspect of our nature and try to convince us that they have a tactic that is new and better and gets immediate results, and we can disregard anything from the past. Fortunes are lost following this advice.
Check any rapidly growing business that seems to be experiencing a sudden breakthrough. Behind the scenes, you will find years of struggle all leading to this breakthrough.
It’s not a breakthrough. It’s the natural result of planning, implementation, measuring, adjusting, and repeating this cycle routinely and endlessly.
It’s a natural cycle.
In business, our planting of the seeds is putting our marketing plan in place and working it, and giving it time to bear the fruit of new business. Plan, implement, measure, adjust, rinse and repeat.
Want to discover some examples that might work for you? Schedule a time to talk.
Remember, you only get results when you take immediate action on your ideas.
