In healing, like in marketing, growth must take time into account

one step at a time sketchnote KLR

At my last visit to the fracture clinic, the doctor was telling me the things I could be doing to help stretch my ankle as it healed. I could move it forward and back. I could start walking without the big boot. There were exercises, and physio, and slow steps.

“But no matter how much you do any of these things, the greatest help to you right now is time,” he said.

I could do the stretches and go for short walks and begin walking without the boot. But doing these things more often in one day is not what brings healing. It’s doing them every day, for many days, while time moves on. Slowly. Oh so slowly.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Atomic Habits principles as my ankle heals. The small 1% changes, cumulative over time, are far greater than a massive attempt at one time.

Time isn’t the sole healer. If I never stretched my ankle and never moved it at all, it time doesn’t make up for that. But conversely, no matter how much I do, time has to be considered.

The same applies in marketing. When we take on a new client at PF, one of the things we talk honestly with them about is the length of time it may take for their content marketing efforts to bring the drip feed of results – that beautiful place where leads come in and you (and they) aren’t even quite sure where they came from. The average length of time for this to happen is 30 months.

It doesn’t mean you get no results during that time: but what it means is, no matter how much you create, you need that amount of time before all these blog posts and videos and social posts and emails and website pages you’re creating come together, stitch together, result in the growth you want and need.

You don’t simply sit there and wait for 30 months. And if you wrote 30 blogs and posted them tomorrow, that wouldn’t have the same impact. It’s consistency in small ways, and time, which need to work together.

I’m in that place with my ankle right now. It’s stitching itself together, like magic, day after day. I’m doing the work and seeing small victories every day. Now I can walk on it. Now I can put on a shoe. Now I can go down stairs without having to hold the handrail. Now I can carry the laundry hamper. Now I can lift the Christmas tree from its stand and take it outside to be recycled. Small things. Resulting in big change. Over time.

It needs to be good content, too. Created by you and your team to answer the questions your clients have and the needs they express. To answer the questions and doubts and fears your prospects have.

As a side note (and I’ll be writing about this from PF soon), you can use something like chatGPT to help you get started, or tweak, or adapt, or get ideas, or move faster. But ultimately the best content and style and tone of voice comes from you and your team, because you are not merely the accumulation of lots of other people’s content. You are yourself. And what you do every day, 1% by 1%, matters.

Over time.

Just keep going.

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ON THE GRAM

It is here. 

#autumn #fallingleaves #hikingboots #beautyineveryseason #seasonchange #september
Wild swimming time! 

I’ve been through Glencoe many a time but never stopped for a wild swim yet and today was the day! Bright sunshine (and getting super warm on even a short walk across the hills), so a dip in the cool highland water was exactly what we needed. 

We found a little mini canyon where no one else happened to be so we had it all to ourselves! Always love that - some of the “highland hot spots” can get so crowded especially on a sunny day. 

I’ll be going here again and hiking a bit further on a new trail we explored! 💪👏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✨

(Ps no I didn’t get my full mile of lap swimming in today tho 😆😆 it was tough to put my whole head underwater for more than a second or two even on a blazingly warm day!!)

#wildswimming #glencoe #highlands #scotland #sunshine #roadtrip