Yet another reason not to take your eyes off the prize

Seth's blog on adversity and the route to success came just at the right time today. Starting your own business isn't easy, especially when you have such specific ideals of what it will and won't be and when. Ideas that lead to genuine success are bound to be tricky to execute (this is also true of great marketing or great product).

The temptation would be to give in and start making compromises, as Seth says "Why bother? The thinking is that we can just pump some more oil or smile and gladhand our way to an acceptably happy outcome."

That was the phrase that did it for me though, "acceptably happy outcome"; nowhere in any of my planning and rationale did that phrase occur. Genius was conceived to reflect its name, to be outstanding, incredible, remarkable, original.

The same has to be true of all marketing and product development. People don't want to buy stuff they see as just "ok" or "acceptable", they want terrific value, great quality, unique features...

So next time you're tempted just to "make do", ask yourself what you set out to do in the first place and why. I'll bet it wasn't to produce something average.

Who's your imaginary friend?

I just read this great post on Copyblogger on why having an imaginary friend (or at least a picture of someone who would be typical of your audience) in mind when you write makes your content better.

Buyer personas aren't new but the act of visualising a specific individual is helpful and  a step not everyone takes. I think the concept goes further than just copywriting; we ought to take our imaginary friend everywhere with us.

Your ideal customer should be there when you shape new products, make changes to your payment or service policies, choose your new locations or any other decision that could impact them and their loyalty to your brand.