![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/SmallBusinessMarketing152.jpg\" "\\"SmallBusinessMarketing15\\"")
cleaned it off with some snow and kept skiing.<\/p>\nA few years back, I was out on the ski slopes in Vermont, following my son Evan down an icy trail. I got going a bit too fast and took a fall and landed head first on the rock hard snow.<\/p>\n
When I got up, I was a bit dazed, and Evan asked me if I realized I was bleeding. (I hadn\u2019t.) \u00a0It was just a trickle, so I… cleaned it off with some snow and kept skiing.<\/p>\n
I did check in with the ski patrol, and other than a small concussion and a shiner on my forehead I was okay\u2026Well, almost okay\u2026<\/p>\n
You see, my wife had been after me for a few years to start wearing a helmet and I knew I was headed for trouble when I returned home to Connecticut. Later that day on the way south, I had my son drive, so I could ice my forehead, not to mention the fact that I was in no condition to be behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
My logic was that if I could keep the swelling down, maybe my wife wouldn\u2019t notice and I could avoid the \u2018I told you so\u2019 abuse I was headed for.<\/p>\n
Of course when I walked in the door, the first thing my wife asked was, \u201cWhat\u2019d you do to your head?\u201d<\/p>\n
So much for thinking straight after getting a concussion.<\/p>\n
Then there was the time I tore my rotator cuff and couldn\u2019t raise my arm or more recently this past January when I tore my ACL and on my return from the mountains my wife practically needed a crowbar to get me out of the car. Two more injuries I tried to ignore and power through.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s wrong with this picture? Other than being a cash cow for my orthopedist?<\/p>\n
When things go wrong, trying to hide them, ignore them or just power through them is \u2013 well, it\u2019s pretty dumb. I\u2019ll admit it. And I\u2019m sure you\u2019d never try to pull some of the stunts I\u2019ve tried, including ignoring a major injury. Right?<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s exactly what most small business owners do every day!<\/p>\n
They build a website and it barely sends them a trickle of leads. Or they pour money into a direct mail campaign and only get a couple of responses.<\/p>\n
And then they do it again, ignoring the fact that their marketing is broken and in desperate need of repair or in fact in need of major surgery And hardly any of them have the excuse that they\u2019re suffering from a concussion.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n
In my case just by pretending I wasn\u2019t hurt that bad didn\u2019t fool anyone\u2026 but me.<\/p>\n
My wife, the trainer at the gym, and everyone else could see that I was injured. In the case of my most recent ACL tear, I can\u2019t even walk in a straight line. Of course not.<\/p>\n Their prospects notice their marketing\u00a0is boring and lame. And they don\u2019t respond, or if they do they only spend a small fraction of what they could. And the business struggles.<\/p>\n Then they blame it on the economy, the competition, the moon or whatever.<\/p>\n How about you?<\/p>\n Are you being honest with yourself?<\/p>\n Is your marketing in need of repair or even major surgery?<\/p>\n One of the easiest things to fix is your marketing message. It\u2019s like the equivalent of outpatient surgery that you can do yourself.<\/p>\n
\nSo what happens when small business owners pretend everything is okay with their marketing strategy<\/a>? Does the problem go unnoticed?<\/p>\n