I was watching a video earlier today and it really hit home with me. I felt like I really needed to write a post about it because, well, it’s something people just don’t understand in my experience.
It’s not worth reading the rest of my post until you watch the video. In all it’s glory, here it is:
https://www.facebook.com/tdinteressante/videos/916321145077189/?fref=nf
Now that you’ve watched the video, I can tell you where it hit home with me. I work with a lot of people who run really cool companies that do great things. They’re usually idealists. It’s how they got to be where they are. But I can’t help but feel like most of them forget about “The Process.”
Wait, WTF is “The Process?” -You, whoever you are
That’s a great question. I define “The Process” as the journey, the trial and error, the testing, the iterating, the constant polishing of whatever your product or service is. We all do this every single day.
I mean, every business owner I talk to wants their business to run like a well-oiled machine. They want the equivalent of this:
But they forget about what it takes to get there. I mean, this is the same painting, just earlier in the process:
But you know what’s cool about that weird, ugly mish-mash of lines and blotches? It was necessary to go through that phase to get to the end result. The process prevails.
So what goes into the process? How does a business go from turning their blotchy mish-mash of brush strokes that vaguely resembles a face to a perfectly polished painting that is beautiful and easily recognizable?
You may not like the answer: a combination of time and hard work.
Do you wonder how long this artist spent pouring over the tiniest details? Making tiny brushstrokes that maybe didn’t even look like they were doing anything at the time.
I’ve always thought of running a business and marketing like a form of art. There’s no exact formula you can follow to get instant results. The process is the best part about business, but only if you embrace it. I’d even argue that the process is the best part of life.
So next time you think about your marketing, remember this and remember that you can’t have one without the other.
