Some people are inherently more patient than others.
But no matter what your patience level or experience in business, I guarantee you’ll reach the point when you start wondering when you’ll see the results you were expecting from your marketing campaign.
My friend and mentor, best selling author Roy H. Williams, calls it the “chickening out” period.
Everybody faces it.
The question is, what do you do? The money is going out every month. Do you stop and change tactics? Or ride it out?
Looking for Answers
My wife and I are absorbing a heavy dose of life lessons from the HBO mini-series “The Defiant Ones.” If you haven’t seen it, the show documents how Dr. Dre sold Beats to Apply for $3+ billion dollars and introduces you to some critical behind the scenes people who helped make it happen.
One of those people is Jimmy Iovine.
To look at Jimmy today, you’d assume he’s always been incredibly successful. In addition to Dr. Dre, his client list includes U2, Tupac, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen & even John Lennon. Not bad.
But Jimmy was 1 bad decision away from screwing it all up. From blowing his whole career.
He reached his “chicken out” period early on is career while help producing Bruce Springsteen’s breakthrough album “Born to Run.” He got frustrated…there were too many late nights, too much stress from little-known Bruce Springsteen at the start of his career.
He told Bruce he had enough..he quit. He wasn’t seeing the results as quickly as he had hoped for and was ready to pursue other work.
Boy he’s glad The Boss refused to accept his resignation and kept him on board. Their little project turned into 2 magazine covers in 1975 after the release of “Born to Run.”
The album launched them both to stardom. Neither has ever looked back.
Jimmy Iovine, one of the most successful business people in the world, was one decision away from a career as a janitor.
The Key Factor
There’s a key element to Jimmy’s story which goes beyond simply gutting it out.
Jimmy was on the right track. If he had been with a different, less talented or driven entertainer who was willing to settle for a mediocre outcome, maybe things had turned out differently.
That’s what you have to watch for!
In the marketing world, being on the right track means having a good PLAN to distribute the right MESSAGE.
Jimmy stuck it out because he believed in what Springsteen was doing. He had a plan to release an album and wouldn’t give up until his message was exactly right. No matter how long it took.
So to answer the question, “how long will it take to see results from my marketing” depends on how well your plan and your message are delivered to potential customers.
It depends on how well you adjust your plan as you go, learning along the way.
And even then, sometimes it just takes time.
Whether or not you stay the course or give up before it bears fruit is up to you!
