Today's Marketing Cookie - Pedaling Somewhere In Linwood

Today's Marketing Cookie came via Facebook from Cynthia Kinnecome, who has the best little furniture shop called, Eclectic Home Goods in the north end of Boston. (You should follow her company on Twitter: @EclecticHG)

There comes a point in many marketing programs, when you feel like you are headed in the right direction, but somehow you aren't getting all the results as quickly as expected.  You start to second guess the research you did. You begin to question your assumptions and you wonder if you should stay on plan, or pull the plug.  On the other hand, you know that your plan should work. You know it in your head, in your gut and in your heart... but why does the program seem stalled? Why aren't I hitting the numbers I anticipated?

I grew up in Whitinsville, MA (just like Cynthia) and I had a good friend who lived in the next town over - in Uxbridge. My mother would drive me over to his house in about 15 minutes. In those days, my primary mode of transportation was my bike. So, one Saturday, I figured I would ride my bike over to his house so we could hang out for the day. Well, what seemed to be a million hours later, I was still pedaling away and had only made it to Linwood. It was taking FOREVER!!! 

I began to question myself.

Even though I left at about 7 o'clock, I started to wonder if I would get there before the sun goes down? I didn't bring any money, so then I wondered what I would do for food. What if my chain falls off? I didn't have any quarters for a pay phone, how would I call home for help?  (No. The cell phone wasn't invented yet.) Should I turn back? Although I believed that I could ride my bike all the way to Uxbridge, and I knew exactly how to get there, I hadn't arrived within the amount of time I expected... and I questioned my plan.

I rode on. Sometimes I pedaled standing up to go faster and slowly, but surely, I saw the "Entering Uxbridge" sign and the trip seemed to be going faster. Then, I passed Hellen's Garage, then Victory Market and the Buma Funeral Home. Before I knew it, I had already arrived safely at my friend's house.  I knocked on the door thinking it was mid afternoon. When his mother welcomed me inside, she said that it was only 8:00 in the morning and my friend was still in bed. Really??! After all that, the whole trip had only taken about an hour!??

Don't give up! You may be closer than you think! ...although, I should also say, that there are some marketing plans that are NOT ever going to work and they should be taken out behind the shed, and put out of their misery. Your plan however, is a good one and may just need to be given just a little more time. If you are getting pressure from management because they are expecting results faster - but they're still pedaling somewhere in Linwood - then ask them to be patient if you can. We get this pressure a lot too, and so we created the "fast track", which generates leads and sales immediately while we are building the larger plan. If you know exactly where you are headed, find a way to pedal harder, because your present plans are going to succeed!