- October 23, 2018 -
It was 1997. Apple was on the brink of failure, and Steve Jobs had just returned after more than two decades since he co-founded the company.
After a series of unproductive product review sessions, Jobs had heard enough.
"Stop! This is crazy." Within minutes of that statement, he'd killed 36 of Apple's 40 products...most of which were different versions of the Mac.
Only four products had made the cut and he uttered his now famous: “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”
By getting Apple to focus on just four computers, he saved the company from complete ruin.
Focus came naturally to Job's Zen-type personality...and he relentlessly filtered out anything that he considered a distraction.
Early this year, a client (I'll call him Chris) called us and said, "I've decided to cut out all my my products except for three. Can you help me restructure?"
And with laser-like focus Chris slashed years of work to focus on his three top products that were most profitable.
Smart man for making a tough call.
I guarantee Chris will ring out the year profitably because he's been concentrating his efforts on what his target audience has proven they want...
...not on what he would like to think they need.
Why do you think so many people have yard sales?
One man's trash is another man's treasure...or so they say.
All looks like junk to me but whatever. Lol
(I plead the fifth...my basement looks like a Thrift shop. I hate the clutter but don't have/take the time to go through all the stuff. Can ya relate?)
In general, most of us run our businesses with a pack-rat mentality.
Before you know it, you've added more products and services than you can keep track of all because you're trying to be all things to all people.
...and that's not even counting the tags, custom fields, and campaigns that seem to reproduce like damn rabbits.
We have succumbed to the "more is better" philosophy.
And it's causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.
The sort of focus that Steve Jobs had and that Chris is adopting -- while difficult to practice -- is critical to putting the “awe” into “awesome” the way that Apple has.
That you block out chunks of time where you go on airplane-mode and ignore Slack, Skype, email or whatever technical wizbang is sucking your productivity dry.
Focus demands...
That you resist the lure of "social" media.
"But it's just a few little posts about our new product...a cool meme to add to a thread in a private group...a quick video tutorial to show I know my stuff."
Bullsh*t. It's a black hole...time you can't get back.
Millennials evidently can live in social media while working and not skip a beat...most of us middle-aged mortals can't.
So don't.
And, no...I'm not talking about paid advertising on social platforms as part of your marketing strategy.
I'm talking about justifying three freaking hours a day on Facebook trying to build a tribe "one comment at a time."
I guarantee it's not paying your bills...let alone build your empire.
Focus demands...
That you stop casting your net wide - go deep instead.
Your brand will never be as awesome as Apple’s until and unless you focus on:
...what you do best
...what you love most
...and what will solve your clients' most urgent problems.
Go ahead and pull an "Apple" - less is more!
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