Instant Gratification – The Small Business Killer

August 14th, 2013 by Diane Conklin under Business - General, Business Strategy. 1 Comment.

The need for instant gratification in business is becoming more prevalent, especially in the world of internet marketing, because things happen so quickly online.  You can test and quickly measure to get information on whether or not things are working, and this just perpetuates the need for instant gratification.

While instant gratification is a huge advantage in today’s market, it makes it difficult to remember that not everything happens instantly.  Sometimes you give up too soon and you stop marketing before you should, because it didn’t work the very first time and give you the instant result you wanted.

Now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be testing and measuring your marketing.  You still want to know what’s working, and what your return on investment is.  Just understand that sometimes you’re a little less patient than you should be, and some things take a little time – sometimes longer than we’d like.

The average person needs to see a message, or to see you about seven times to get to know you in order to build the know, like, and trust factor, and then say “yes” to your product.  If you stop marketing after two or three times, then you’ve gone away, and they don’t even know you’re there anymore.

A great example of this is the person who has been on your list for two years, five years or maybe longer, and has never invested in anything.  You continue to market to them, but still nothing.

While it may be tempting to take those people off your list because you want that instant gratification, and you want them to buy from you instantly, you shouldn’t be too hasty.  What if after all of that time on your list, reading your ezine, watching your videos, and seeing your testimonials, they decide to attend an event and invest in one of your high-level coaching programs?  Was it worth the wait?  For most business owners it would be worth the wait, but when you’re in instant gratification mode, you tend to forget to look at the bigger picture, because you want the instant gratification.

Instant gratification is great, as long as you don’t expect it in everything you do.  Don’t let your need for instant gratification be the death of your business, be the reason you quit, or the reason you stop marketing.  Be patient.

The reason you market is because it takes time to build the know, like, and trust factor.  It takes time for people to watch you and decide to say “yes” to what you’re offering them.  So, be patient.  Don’t get so caught up in your need for instant gratification that you lose sight of the big picture of your business.