By Ken Gasque
There are lots of rules for success in marketing and living but I have found that the more rules you have, the harder it is to remember and act on them. I will do follow-up columns on the other rules you should be aware of and ways to measure. "If it doesn't get measured, it doesn't get done."
The first rule seems obvious but every week in my consulting practice I meet an entrepreneur or business owner who can't answer this question. "What do you want?" I mean succinctly. Most can ramble and give generic unmeasurable wants... "make more money, have better health, travel, etc."
Take some time, four to eight hours in a friendly place (mine is Starbucks coffee house or a hotel room with a fantastic view [one of my best sessions was in a hotel room overlooking the Las Vegas strip at 5am]). Determine what you want. Limit it to five things.
The second question is just as elusive. "Why do you want it?" This is very important because if the why is not greater than the want, you will never achieve your goals. Apple Computer could have been just another computer manufacturer except Steve Jobs had an audacious belief. He felt he could change the world for the better. See Simon Sinek's Ted Talk.
The third rule is "Do something every day." Earl Nightingale, author and motivational speaker, told the story of a young man he counseled. The man was in his late twenties and he was aimless. He complained he wasn't getting ahead and couldn't afford to go to college. He felt he was stuck. Nightingale asked him if his employer gave him a lunch hour. If so, if he read for one hour every day, that would be 260 hours, and that would make him an authority on any subject. Malcom Gladwell mad a similar observation in his book Outliers.
In his book Gladwell repeatedly stresses the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours. He gives an example the Beatles who became one of the most successful musical acts in human history because the Beatles performed live in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964, amassing more than 10,000 hours of playing time, therefore meeting the 10,000-Hour Rule. Nightingale said 6 words changed his life. "We became what we think about."
We think about helping our customers. Every week Blanco Labels meets its commitments of millions of labels to manufacturers depending on them. At Blanco Labels we believe service is as important as quality. Your label is your most important advertising. Success comes from advertising your product with the best, most creative, most inviting label people. It helps to hire a company with experience, willingness to do what it takes and a desire to help you succeed. Blanco Labels provides innovative designs, quality printing and self-adhesive labels and the equipment to apply.
We select our customers so that we can be a perfect fit. We are small enough for their business to matter and large enough to make sure their job gets done.
Advertise, it pays!
About Ken Gasque. Ken Gasque is a brand developer, marketing planner and designer who believes if you help people get what they want you will get what you want. Ken works with small companies and Fortune 500 companies who recognize the need to differentiate their products and services to stand out in a cluttered market. Ken is a highly visual, outside-the-box-thinker on advertising, branding and marketing–his work reflects his belief that "We buy with our eyes." Ken writes and lectures on his experiences developing brands (good and bad). www.gasque.com