Doldrums and Snails: A Post-holiday Story

'Twas a month after Christmas, not a penny of gain,
Not a client was stirring, oh what a pain.

So now you know why I write newsletters and not poetry. I am in the midst of a serious bout of the post-holiday doldrums. I've received few appraisals so far this month, the economy is looking rocky, and I wonder if marketing even has a point.

Do you every feel that way? Like the marketing you're trying has no potential for decent returns. Do you feel like none of your marketing strategies are leading toward success? I think the answer to those doldrums might be found by watching snails.

I've been studying snails for the past few months. In August, we bought our 6 year old daughter an aquarium for her birthday. We put in a few fish. That tank got dirtier and dirtier. I changed the water and filter, but it just wasn't enough. So we purchased two bottom eating fish and one snail.

And then, we learned something about snails we didn't know. Most snails are hermaphrodites. They are both male and female and don't require another snail to breed. One day we noticed three additional snails in the tank. We thought our snail had been pregnant when we bought it. A week later we had 20 snails and two weeks later, we had 50. All of a sudden, we had snails everywhere. With one snail, we created a snail explosion.

Marketing activities remind me of that snail. You put those snails out there and wait for them to explode. You don't know which one will do it, you don't know exactly how it will work, but you need to stick the snail in the tank or nothing will happen. An individual snail may not look like much, but each has the potential to explode.

So even though I am feeling the doldrums, I'm getting to work. I'm following my marketing plan even when I don't feel like it. I know that each phone call, each visit, each email, and each newsletter is one more snail in the water. And each snail has the potential to become 100 more appraisals or writing jobs.

'Twas a month after Christmas, send out each snail.
Success must follow, like a strong gale.

(Wow that's terrible. I'll try not to do that to you again.)