The Marketing Fork in the Road.

Written By: Kevin Holmes

Have you ever thought about what it might be like to run a marathon?  You start to train, change your diet, and get yourself into a workout schedule and routine.  I think we could all agree, even if we haven’t run a marathon ourselves that the training required is rigorous and hard on the body. 

So, I decided I was going to run a marathon.  I found a training schedule that had me run up to 20 miles on my longest run and then taper back down in preparation for the big day.   After that long 20 mile run, my body felt great and mentally I was ready.  I thought, “ if I can run 20 miles I can certainly run 6.2 more.” 

Well…

I was doing just fine at first but then I hit something that you always hear about from runners, but I never took seriously. The WALL.  I was not prepared for that. My body started to tell my brain that I needed to stop and my muscles felt like they were on overdrive. My body was powering down, and I felt like I needed to stop.

This was a defining moment for me. 

I had to decide whether to listen to my body or keep pushing through the pain. And I knew if I decided to push through and finish I would be so proud of myself for not quitting. Or if I chose to stop and let my body recover and rest, I would feel physically better, but mentally, I would feel like I just wasted all of that training and time…

Why? Because I could have done it. 

We all have a routine, a plan on how things are supposed to go or turn out. But we can’t plan for everything. I didn’t plan for the wall, even when I was told about the wall and how I should work up to it first. It still wouldn’t have made a difference because I had to go through it to make it real. 

Marketing can be the same way. We get in this flow and plan but then we get thrown by this curve that we didn’t know was going to be there. Then, we are faced with the decision of do we stop or keep going? Do we take the road of comfortability or do we drive into new unexplored territory?

Honestly, the answer regarding Marketing should be, keep going. If your goal is to keep helping people then you have to. This fork in the road shouldn’t be a showstopper. Marketing is constantly changing and evolving, and so should you. 

Is it scary and can you feel like you hit your marketing wall? Yes, absolutely it can be. But don’t let that stop you from finishing your marathon and learning valuable lessons along the way. 

Push through, keep marketing, and always choose the way that grows your business, not stops it. 

Good luck, thanks for reading!

Kevin Holmes is an owner and the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Holmes Marketing Services. He is passionate about giving Holmes clients the best possible experience and exceeding expectations. To discuss how to make your marketing work for you, or to learn more about Holmes, you can contact Kevin at kevin@thinkholmes.com.