Once upon a time I got a booklet called “Obvious Adams.”
It’s a short little read packed with so much marketing wisdom you can read it 100 times and still find some “nugget” you missed the previous 99.
And it’s all about the… “obvious.”
And how no matter how complex or frustrating a problem, the answer is almost always simple and totally obvious.
Let me pick on myself as an example.
A couple years ago, I started collecting all my receipts from the two grocery stores in town. I do this because the local dog shelter gets a small cash rebate from these stores for each receipt someone hands in.
And what I did was this:
I rolled the receipts into a big wad and then rubber banded them together. So it looked kinda like a giant roll of cash you’d see some mafia pimp carrying.
Problem was, some receipts kept slipping from the band.
And it was getting really annoying.
Especially when I had about 6 months’ worth of these receipts together (I hand them in about twice a year) falling all over the place.
Finally, my wife noticed.
“Ben, what the hell are you doing with those receipts?”
“I’m keeping them for the dog shelter. Duh.”
“No… I mean what are you doing there with the rubber band? That’s not the way to keep those receipts together. Why not just put them in an envelope?”
Doh!
Yes, I felt like a total jackanape.
Her solution was so obvious.
While mine was complicated, messy and just plain idiotic (I mean, who keeps receipts rolled up with a rubber band?)
Anyway, here’s the moral of the story:
Like one of the characters in Obvious Adams says, “The solution to this problem, when found, will be obvious.”
If you’re stuck or frustrated with your marketing, relax.
Take a step back.
And realize the answer, when found, will be obvious.
Ben Settle
P.S You can read more about “Obvious Adams” at:
Comments on this entry are closed.