Like Drinking from a Fire Hose

I just went to a conference and now have a whole binder of ideas, strategies and things I need to do. How many lifetimes will it take me to do everything in there?

Great question!

One of the challenges of being a human these days is that there is so much information, so many strategies, and so many people talking at you, telling you what it’s possible for you and your business. There’s so much volume that trying to make sense of all is like drinking from a fire hose.

It’s enough to make you crazy. But before you start to hyperventilate and go to the crazy-place, the good news:

Dixie cups.

Yep, instead of drinking from a firehose, you can instead sip strategies from those paper cups made famous by lemonade stands of little kids across the country.

What’s cool about conferences is that you get exposure to all kinds of ideas and strategies and messages and people and case studies about how your business could be. You get to see where other folks are, what other folks need, how they talk about what they do, and how they react when you talk about your latest program.

But make no mistake: your job isn’t to do EVERYTHING and be EVERYBODY and know EVERYTHING that’s mentioned at a conference. It’s just to implement a few things really, really well.

For most of us, there’s no need to break into the fire hydrant and bring out the fire trucks to quench your thirst for marketing and business-growing info. Isn’t that a relief?

Not convinced? This might change your mind:

1. Not all strategies are appropriate for the stage of business you’re in. I’ve had business owners ask me to write a sales letter for a passive income product before they had a full roster of clients or a regular newsletter their list expects (and is happy to buy from). You need foundations like a clear, well-branded, and well-organized website, pink spoon report to get people to opt-in to your list and newsletter in place before you “build out” your online marketing.
2. Distraction is the stepmother of being broke. You must put your attention on what my mentor Monica Shah calls “revenue-generating activities.” You’re in business, after all! Learning is good, but don’t learn more than you can “ground” and put into practice to increase your revenue (or freedom). Which one Dixie Cup-sized RGA did you learn–like asking 4 people a day for first sessions with you at the beginning of your day—that you can start doing right now?
3. In the land of small business entrepreneurs, there’s a lot of focus on fast, rich, and easy. But is that really your business? Sometimes we can get swept away with the prevailing marketing hype and lose sight of the fact that, like Rome, sustainable and integrity-rich businesses aren’t built overnight. Relationships, real value, and discernment still win out over the long haul. Sure, fast food exists, but there is also a slow food movement, too.

Got any favorite Dixie Cup-sized actions you take after a conference that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section! As a bonus I’ll send everyone who posts a copy of Orange Guide No. 7: Conference-Going for Introverts Who Love People (But Need to Get Away From Them, Too). Mighty thanks to striatic’s flickr photostream for the photo.