Image Alt

In Marketing As In Life, Focus on the Big Rocks First

In Marketing As In Life, Focus on the Big Rocks First

I received an email last week from Stephen Lynch of Results.com. It reminded me of a nice analogy about priorities that Steven Covey made years ago that I had forgotten about: Big Rocks. Here’s a video:

Big Rocks Video

 

Marketing is a lot like that exercise: it’s important to do the right things first. Unfortunately, many businesses focus on tactical projects (the small rocks) when they should really be setting strategy and a marketing program (the big rocks) first. It’s easy to decide to do the tactical—a new website, some social media, a direct mail campaign—because it’s something that feels immediate and gratifying. You can say, “I’m doing marketing.” But how will you know when you’re successful? THAT requires strategy, and strategy is like the Big Rocks. Focus on strategy first, and everything else will fall into place.