Only those who have an image can destroy it

Sometimes I chat with our competitors if the chemistry is right - after all, the market is big enough for all of us. That's why food envy is inappropriate.

So yesterday afternoon I had a long phone call with an agency owner I hold in high regard. He told me that he had been working on a consultant's website for months and that he was constantly dissatisfied with their texts in particular. That's why the consultant's website, which was supposed to go online in April, is still not "on air".

No-names and newcomers do not yet have an image

In response to my question as to why this was the case, my colleague replied that the consultant kept emphasizing that he did not discover "the special thing" about himself and his working methods in the texts - but he could not name what this was. Instead, he kept emphasizing that he was afraid of destroying his image.

I then asked: "How well known is the consultant in the market?" The advertising expert replied: "Actually, he's an absolute newcomer that nobody knows yet." In response, I couldn't resist my standard line in such situations: "You can only ruin your image if you already have one."

Take the Pareto principle to heart in marketing too

In my work, I also come across personal service providers such as consultants and coaches, but also lawyers, doctors and therapists. They are usually relative newcomers or no-names in the market who fear: "If I make my website visible like this, it will damage my image", "If I send out a promotional letter like this, it will damage my image" or "If I formulate an article or blog post like this, it will damage my image."

So they endlessly tweak these marketing tools, so to speak - which is ultimately an expression of uncertainty. It would make more sense at some point - in line with the Pareto principle - to say: "An 80 percent solution will do for the time being or temporarily." Because then the personal service providers would finally show their face in the market so that potential customers can recognize and contact them.

Instead of procrastinating forever, take action

The message to all these self-employed people can only be: "The worst sales letter is the sales letter that is never sent out", "The worst article manuscript is the manuscript that is never offered to editors for publication", "The worst website is the one that is never put online because the self-employed person or company owner endlessly tweaks their copy or layout", and so on.

Working incrementally in marketing too

Such behaviour becomes downright absurd when a self-employed person - like my colleague's client - is a consultant specializing in the fashionable topics of agility, digital transformation and new work and, among other things, propagates an incremental way of working; in other words, a way of working in which increments, i.e. partial solutions, are always delivered to customers in the course of the process. 

The question then arises: If the consultant is such a fan of this way of working, why doesn't he practice this approach for his own website? Why doesn't he put it online as it is now and then optimize it - also based on customer feedback?

A website that is online is not set in stone. It can be continuously expanded and improved, provided the structure plan is right. 

So why spend months fiddling around with the web texts, always looking for "the optimal wording", the "selling point that convinces all addressees", the "unmistakable, uncopyable USP" (which doesn't exist)? 

At this point, quite a few consultants resemble their clients, whose agility, flexibility and ability and willingness to innovate they want to increase.

Website finally "on air" - without damaging the image

Incidentally, my colleague also said all this to his customer this morning. And the website has been online since midday today.