Weight Loss vs. Marketing

I learned through my weight loss journey that I can read as many books as I like or hire a coach, but without trying to apply what I learn and seeing what works for me, I’m unable to make any meaningful changes in my life or with my weight loss. The same principle applies to marketing. If you don’t test what you're learning, apply it, and see how it works, nothing will change. Even with doubts, you must still put this new knowledge into action. When you do this, you can examine the process, evaluate it, and use it to your advantage. The rubber must meet the road here. This is how to get to the next level.

“One of the hardest admissions I ever had to make to myself was that I didn't know how to lose weight.” -Stephanie Scheller 

My Story

When I went to college, I gained a lot of weight. Then, I changed my lifestyle and lost the weight. After I graduated, I gained a lot of weight again, which prompted me once again to change my lifestyle and lose weight. I soon realized I was going through cycles in which I gained a lot of weight, restructured my life, and lost weight over and over. When I started my own company, the same thing happened, except this time the weight wasn’t coming off.

One of the hardest admissions I ever had to make to myself was that I didn't know how to lose weight. If you know me, you'll know that I've always been a bit of a “yo-yo life styler.” I dislike using the phrase “yo-yo dieter” because I haven't leapt from crash diet to crash diet.

It's been several years since I noticed that I was gaining weight rather than losing it. For me to lose the 50 pounds I had already lost, and the remaining 50 to 70 pounds I plan to shed, I had to come to terms with the fact that I could no longer lose the weight as easily as I had done so many times before. Because I believed I should be able to do it, it took a lot of courage to admit that I no longer knew how. I couldn't break the thought cycle of “It shouldn't be this difficult.” However, one thing was clear, nothing I was doing was working.

Building Your Marketing Muscle

Many entrepreneurs make the same mistake when it comes to marketing. Oftentimes, we have success with a couple marketing tactics and therefore believe it to be simple. We cannot comprehend why it would be difficult, or we see someone else with a successful marketing strategy and think: “It's simple to market my small business.”

The fact is, developing a marketing ‘muscle’ is a crucial part of this business. It's a skill we must work on constantly. Even though I'm a marketer, I continuously study books on marketing and attend events to learn about new things in the field.

If you feel like your marketing isn't performing as well as you would like, it's probably because you just require time to build up your marketing ‘muscle’ and strengthen it by reading books, blogs, and articles, much like you are doing now.

Conclusion

It was through my weight loss journey, I became aware that without trying to apply what I learned and seeing what worked for me, I would not be able to make any meaningful changes in my life or in my weight loss. The same is true for your marketing. If you don't implement what you learn and see whether it works, nothing is going to change. In other words, if you don't test it, it doesn't matter whether it works or not. The knowledge you gain must be put into practice. You can improve your marketing by analyzing its performance and trying it again with a new approach. Learning from your successes and your mistakes will take you to the next level.