Why Our 18 Different Marketing Strategies Failed

I was talking with a business colleague and realized that we executed 18 different marketing strategies over the past two years. Some Learn to Scale fans may remember some of them:

1. Challenge Campaigns, like Camp Career Confidence​

2. Biweekly newsletter, like this (refer a friend!)

3. Automated email marketing, like Roman Noodles Teaches Outbound Sales​

4. On-demand courses, like Scale Pipeline 102​

5. Slack networking, schmoozing in POPs United​

6. Networking events, like LunchClub​

7. Single live webinars, like What's Your #1 HR Investment for 2021​

8. Organic Social media, like my aggressively big plans in January​

9. Facebook group, aka Unreasonably Exciting Employee Engagement​

10. Slack Community building, like the Learn to Scale Slack​

11. Blogging, like the Learn to Scale Thought Bubbles​

12. Google Search ads (not that expensive)

13. Facebook ads (middling expensive)

14. LinkedIn ads (so expensive!)

15. Automated LinkedIn Outbound, eating our own dog food​

16. Lead magnets, like Talk Track Learn​

17. Strategic Partnerships, like our friends over at NavigationVS​

18. Podcasting, like the 20/20 Perspective​

There's probably a few I've missed, but herein lies the problem: entrepreneurs have WAY too many options available.

Especially for a new entrepreneur (like I was), there's pressure to do it all. Not only that, but hustle culture encourages you to do it all 100%.

For me, I took a little bit of action on everything and never reaped the rewards of iterative improvement. Some people, though, look at that list, weigh every single option ad nauseum, and never try one of them.

These are the two major pitfalls that we all fall into:

Problem 1: Analysis Paralysis

You may be sitting on a dream, an idea, an urge, but don't take action because there are too many ways to do it (and too many ways to fail, amirite?). It's a well known fact that Decision Paralysis stems from having too many options.​

You may crave choice, but each additional option slows you down and adds friction to taking action.

Problem 2: Professional Dilettante

This was Learn to Scale's problem: untethered by corporate structure, it's far too easy to try something for a little bit and then change direction. The justifications are endless:

• "I'm exploring what approach will work best."

• "Layering multiple approaches will multiply my odds for success."

• "I didn't get great results so I'm pivoting."

[That last one is my kryptonite: My COO calls me Pivot Happy.]

The hidden cost of change is that you can't integrate little learnings and optimizations and start compounding small successes into sustainable success. The startup cost of learning a new approach is far more significant than you'd admit...and for me, it's boring to keep doing the same thing and getting a little bit better each time.

For both of these sides of the spectrum, the first step is being self-aware of where you tend to fall.

Are you at risk for Analysis Paralysis or being a Professional Dilettante?