Recently my boss invited me to attend a 3 day Social Media Conference called SOBCon in Chicago. It was a weekend full of inspiring speakers, fabulous presentations, and thought-provoking ideas. I left with an ever greater appreciation for social media and its abilities than I thought would be possible.
While I took away new tools and ideas to implement, there was one simple statement made that struck me the most and stuck with me through the rest of the weekend.
“Don’t pursue perfection, pursue change.”
This statement was made during the middle of a presentation about social media by a women who uses social media every day in her marketing tactics. Perhaps why it stood out so much to me is that it is so very true, and goes beyond just social media. When you think about it, this little phrase can relate to most business decisions.
Often I work with clients who are so focused on making the “perfect” website, that the website takes months to launch. Or they need to have every image in that brochure be just “perfect” or it won’t sell their product. Or when it comes to social media, everything needs to be perfectly aligned in their organization before they can even think about going down that path. This type of thinking often severely delays, or even prevents them from taking that first important step. It keeps them from changing and evolving their business.
So with that knowledge in hand, I challenge you to think about your own business. Are there any ideas you have wanted to run with, but have not had time to perfect? Have you been holding off on the launch of that new website, the creation of a YouTube account, etc because it isn’t in its perfect and final state? Now look at it from a different standpoint – is what you are holding off on something that would help change your business? Is it something that while maybe not perfect, is strong enough to stand its own and be refined along the way? If so, I encourage you to take that first step and watch the rest fall into place.
photo credit: Katie Tegtmeyer
great article Sarah. I completely agree .. we tend to want to make sure all of the stars align before we pull the trigger on something. I am guilty of that at times.
I recommend people listen to Steve Gasser – owner of Vivid Image discuss this topic in Episode 2 of the Conversation Hub. They can listen to it here: http://theconversationhub.com/episode2_stevegasser/
very true Sarah. “Perfect” is often unattainable, especially with marketing, since it is a moving target, and often waiting to launch for the perfect time may just result in lost opportunity.