I recently reread Illusions: Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach for the first time in over 15 years. It is an amazing book and I think everyone should read it! But, the most inspiring part is the parable in the introduction.
The story starts with a messiah narrating the lives of creatures living along the bottom of a great river. All those creatures clung for dear life to the bottom of the river to avoid getting swept by the swift current.
One creature however feeling bored and directionless clinging the same old way decided it was time to let go and trust the river current. His companions warned him and laughed at him but he let go anyway and was instantly dashed against some hard rocks.
However he refused to cling to the bottom and soon the current of the river picked him up again and he started to move downstream. To all the creatures who lived downstream to who he was a stranger he appeared to be miracle creature and a messiah flying in the current like no other but of course knew better.
A sea of change is taking place in how internet marketing is being done today. Most companies are sticking to the same old ways of reaching their prospects by barraging them with emails, direct mailers and telemarketing calls, interrupting their daily routines. However these techniques are not effective and are often detrimental to the marketers.
The new marketing requires us to let go of the old ways (you can go back whenever you like) but you need to experience where the river is going and trust it. The river in question is 1) how the internet is transforming and becoming flat, allowing smaller and larger companies to compete on equal footing in search engines. 2) It’s how people are trusting each others’ recommendations in social media to discover new products and services. 3) It’s how companies are creating remarkable content that is being shared in social media and helping them to get found.
Sometimes we just have to trust that the river knows where it is going and let go. Fellow marketers clinging to the old ways may think you are a fringe case, may discount you as a radical or even choose to worship you as messiah but you know better that it really is all about trusting the river. It’s time to change our marketing and go with the flow.
How have you changed your marketing recently? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
