Is Now the Time to Take Risk?
“You can’t have success unless you’re prepared to have failure. As soon as you say, ‘failure is not an option’ you’ve just said, ‘innovation is not an option.’” — Seth Godin
Study today’s successful companies (and not just the household names) and you’ll find that all of them take risks to maintain market positioning and expand market exposure. In fact, those that don’t quickly adapt to the ever-changing competitive industry environment actually take the bigger risk of standing still, or even worse, falling behind.
One of the things we’ve observed recently is that smart companies are spending less time trying to convince people and more time looking for new ways to connect with people—and not just clients and prospects. They are conveying the value of their brands with consistent visual language that resonates emotionally. Social media is thriving, and businesses that have opted to educate themselves and leverage technology in the social space are building approachability advantages. More importantly, they are building an army of brand advocates who will amplify their message. In the end, that translates into dollars.
The fact is, you have a story to tell, and nobody else is qualified to tell it like you can. When it comes to your brand and your marketing, you might be better served investing energy and risking dollars into telling your story than waiting for something magical to happen. Your story is all you’ve got. And if you don’t invest in it yourself, you’re really telling the world that your company isn’t worth investing in at all. Discerning clients will understand the difference and act accordingly.
-Marc Neidlinger
Illustration by Jay Cech exclusively for Mind Lightning.