Stay On Course.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about filtering your great ideas and keeping your feet on the ground.

You may have the most ingenious, provocative, and creative marketing idea in the world, but in order to make a real difference, you must develop a strategy, execute a plan, and measure the results. It is wonderful to have big dreams and lofty thoughts, but unless you have the discipline to keep your feet on the ground and get things done, you could be nothing more than just a dreamer. There was a time when I would have been found guilty of having ideas without the commitment of seeing projects through to successful completion. However, when you are asked to play in a high-stakes game on the big stage, you learn to perfect your "doing skills" and you develop the discipline necessary to stay on course.

The truth is, I still have a million and one ideas popping into my head every minute of every day. I don't know why. It just happens. At the same time, I have learned to keep my eyes and my team focused on the stated goal while my internal "idea filtration system" determines if the new concepts will help obtain or potentially distract us from achieving our objectives. In some cases, I believe that some of my new ideas will help us... but just not yet. They may get filed away until next quarter or even next year, when our current campaign reaches a next stage of maturity. I call it "threshold marketing," but that is a topic for another day.

(Did you see what just happened? I just stayed on topic.)

When I first got into the practice of harnessing, vetting, and validating only the best ideas for my clients, it was quite difficult and maybe even frustrating for me to stay on course. However, after years of hitting lead generation numbers and running successful campaigns, I've found much more satisfaction in letting a simple good idea take center stage, rather than the many failures I experienced when I let my ADD steer the helm. I suppose the commitment of writing this marketing cookie blog every day for seven months is perhaps a good example of having a single, simple idea, and exercising the discipline to stay on course.

The fact is, you are immensely creative too. I'm sure you have a great idea that has been sitting on the shelf just waiting for you to keep your feet on the ground and drive it forward. Perhaps it's time that you chart a course, settle in on a single objective, and give your idea a chance to blossom. I encourage you to let your great idea take center stage for seven months or more so you can see how satisfying it is to win. Go for it! I will be right here cheering for you!