TOO MANY OPTIONS

Photo by Seth Werkheiser

The more I think about the marketing machine, and the how and the why and the strategies involved, the more it all seems impossible.

Like, everyone who wants to “get the word out” about their thing is competing with a million other people doing the same thing. Some of it rises to the top because it’s what everyone is talking about – tech reviews, AI, sports, Star Wars, etc.

Other folks who do stuff that’s not quite as “big,” well, they’re lost in the fray, unless we’re talking about BookTok, of course.

But like, do “we” need to be in all these popular online places to make it? Is it required?

I think about the tiny Chinese restaurant I visit in Palmerton, PA. They’re not on social media, nor do they need to be. People in that town (or people passing through, like me) want Chinese food.

They have it. That’s a simple and direct choice.

And I feel like when you have that immediate want, say, for Chinese food, you’re going to look locally.

And if the grass is getting too high in your yard, you have to get someone to cut it.

But a lot of other things – how to draw, people who talk about email newsletters with creative people (that’s me!), how to write better… there are a zillion options for everything out there, and no real guarantee that any of them are going to help in the end.

Chinese food? That’s simple. You can solve that problem in an hour.

All the other creative / strategy / marketing stuff? Endless variations of possible solutions, directions, and options.