What do marketing strategy and boxing have in common?
Avoid being a one-punch wonder
I am not a huge guy. In fact I am about 5’8″, 190 lbs. In addition to filming online marketing videos that help small business and doctors in the dental/medical field build more confidence and credibility, I am a boxer (more specifically, “I box”). Much to my family’s chagrin, particularly my dad who ponied up the money for my braces when I was young. Thankfully, I still have all of my teeth and faculties, and I’d like to share what boxing has taught me about advertising more effectively.
It wasn’t until I read something in Permission Marketing, by Seth Godin, that I saw a strong similarity between boxing and promoting my video production business. My goal as a boxer is to knock the other guy out so he/she can’t fight anymore—that’s how I win (as brutal as that sounds). In marketing and advertising for my business, my goal is to reach and attract new prospects and clients—that’s how I win in that space.
Boxer behemoths like Mike Tyson and George Foreman can go for the one-punch knock out to accomplish their goals (knocking someone’s teeth out), just as IBM, Monster.com and Ford can run one Super Bowl advertisement and attract a load of new prospects. Most small business owners, including me, don’t have the size or muscle of Mike Tyson or Ford, so we might consider another approach.
If you are looking for the best approach in boxing, marketing, or advertising, the key to success (unless you’re Mike Tyson or IBM) is frequency. Take me for example: I am not big boxer and my video production business isn’t either, so loading up all of my efforts into just one-punch—hoping it will help me doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Spending all of my resources (time, money, or energy) on one roll of the dice isn’t a good idea. I don’t have the weight or the muscle for that to work. Because you own a small business or dental/medical practice, you probably don’t either. But that’s okay, just because we’re not huge doesn’t me we can’t be effective in marketing. We just have to use a different strategy. In planning and strategizing your marketing efforts, make sure you focus on a ten-round “fight,” rather than just a one round fight.