Redwood's number 1 risk to avoid in business

Above all else, avoid ‘once’ and ‘one’.  It’s as simple as that. 

You may strive to be number one, but never, ever depend on the number one because it will put your business at risk time and again. There is absolutely no opportunity to spread risk with one and once.

Here are some super-risky once and ones to avoid in business:

• Doing only one method of marketing
• Contacting a prospective client once
• Doing one mail-shot
• Having one key member of staff
• Selling one product
• Depending on one key customer
• Running one advert, once

A marketer's nightmare

One and once are a marketer’s worst nightmare.  In this communication-overload age we live in we all receive thousands of ‘messages’ every single day.  So, putting that into a scenario, let’s say that I am your potential customer and I am standing on the stage at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry looking out at a crowd of thousands who are all vying for my attention, including you.  How will I notice you amongst them if you only try to attract my attention once? 

Say you decide to wave at me - you give it a go … and lo and behold I happen to be looking the other way when you try … let’s be perfectly honest here, the chances of me noticing you at all are very, very small.  Even if you’re right at the front of the crowd you’re going to have to work pretty hard to get my attention.  So what do you do?  Well, if you’re a ‘one and once-r’ you’ll just give up and go home.  And that’s pretty much exactly what you’d be doing in business if you only ever try to contact a prospective client once, or only send one mail-shot, or only ever run one advert, once.

Keep your marketing consistent and persistent

By assuming your prospective customer is likely to be ‘looking the other way’ at least the first 7-10 times that you try to attract their attention, you’d be giving yourself a far better chance of them noticing you at all.  If you also mix up the ways that you try to get their attention your chances of being noticed will increase even more because, for instance, they might be ‘looking the wrong way’ to notice 7 postcards coming through their door, but exactly the ‘right way’ to notice a single email.

There was a time in marketing when 3-7 ‘contacts’ were enough to secure some sort of a conversion, whether it be a sale or a sign-up or whatever.  Nowadays, given the level of communication-overload that we’re all subjected to every day, it is estimated that that number is now nearer 30 contacts (yes, you read it right - 30 contacts!).

So with that very firmly in mind, don’t become a ‘one and once-r’ – your business will not be able to sustain it!  You only get one chance with once so why set yourself up to fail when you can succeed by consistently and persistently waving, shouting, jumping up and down, waving placards, screaming … I’m sure you get the drift.