A few weeks ago I gave a workshop.
It was a growth hacking workshop for science students who also founded a startup and were funded by an incubator.
We talked about retargeting.
In case the term doesn’t mean anything to you: Retargeting is the possibility to leave a cookie in the browser of your website visitors and to remind them of their visit with a banner . Particularly useful for visitors who browsed for a product but did not buy it.
Big eyes stared at me. The attendees had just realized why they were being followed by all these banners.
One participant put her hand over her mouth in shock.
You could see the moral dilemma on her
“I couldn’t,” she said.
“What could you not do?” I asked.
“To sell myself like that”.
“You are not selling yourself, you are selling your product.”
“But I do not want that.”
“It’s nothing bad. That’s retargeting. This is advertisement.”
“But that still feels weird.”
“Ok.” I said finally.
But if you don’t tell anyone about your company, you won’t succeed. Then no matter how good your product is. Nobody outside your circle of acquaintances will find out about it. And then you don’t have a company, but a hobby. Which is perfectly fine – but not the purpose of why we’re here. Because this is about growth .
This conversation was new to me.
I usually speak to founders and marketers who are panting for growth. Those who are eager for new strategies, processes and hacks in order to be able to grow more and faster. Which you have to prevent from wanting to do too much at once, otherwise they would lapse into nonsensical actionism.
Sometimes less is more
But here I had someone in front of me for whom growth is not a must, but an option .
There is nothing wrong with that at all. On the contrary: it shows backbone and conviction when you know what you don’t want. Just like when someone fights passionately to achieve their ambitious goals. It’s a matter of mentality. Of the mindset .
Take, for example, the blogger and coach Paul Jarvis, whom I greatly value, who has published a book with the telling title: ” Company of one: why staying small is the next big thing for business “.
He has a stable income from selling his online courses and lives a comparatively minimalist lifestyle somewhere in Western Canada.
He is completely reluctant to grow economically because he is satisfied with the status quo.
Even without selfies from the Maldives. Or videos in a Lamborghini.
In fact, there are quite a few advisors out there that portray a minimalist lifestyle as a very desirable ideal. Because the less you have, the less distraction you have in life.
Why?
If I don’t have a Playstation, then I don’t have to worry about how to give enough time to play Read Dead Redemption 2! 😉
Or if I don’t post a live video every 10 minutes, I don’t have to worry about trolls and haters – and can instead focus on the quality of my product.
Cal Newport writes in his bestseller ” Deep Work ” that long phases of concentrated and undisturbed work are worth their weight in gold. Because only through absolute focus can something really “true” of high quality arise.
But here’s the crux:
Growth is human nature
Literally. Because we multiply – even if we no longer have enough space and resources for all of us on this planet.
We grow spiritually by constantly looking for new challenges. Every scientifically relevant finding only raises more questions.
We are growing physically and are always chasing new records.
Usain Bolt wasn’t happy with running the 100 meters pretty fast. He wanted to be the fastest man in the world.
Michael Jordan did not become known to a ball usually throw by a basket to.
And we admire Maryl Streep not because she can act really well, but because she was nominated 21 times for the Oscar (and has won three times).
We are currently also economically dependent on growth, because capitalism ( no matter how social the market economy may be) does not work without growth. If you don’t increase your money, but leave it under the mattress, you will lose your fortune, cent for cent. Because the states are printing more and more banknotes, which leads to a decrease in value.
With a few exceptions, all countries in this world have committed themselves to a capitalist economic order. And even “communist” China depends on the economy growing steadily – not too much, but above all not too little.
So if you are economically active, you should n’t curse growth or be scared of it. It’s part of the game! 🏀
Because even if your goals are modest and you only want to establish a small company with stable sales, you still have to grow to this status .
“Growth”: Just Another Buzzword?
“Growth” is a current buzzword for growth. Just like “hustle”, “grind” or “hack”.
Many young entrepreneurs like to use it to illustrate their ambition despite any adversity. You get your hands dirty, you take every opportunity and you also like to leave the established path to stimulate the growth of your own company.
And the topic of my book and online course ” Growth Hacking ” is not morally reprehensible, because creativity and courage also correspond to the human ideal – as long as this pursuit is not directed against or at the expense of others.
Rapid growth is not without risk
You should also avoid growth for the sake of growth (the leitmotif of cancer) and not chase after every customer.
Not because you run the risk of failure, but because the capacities are often insufficient. As a coach, for example, your time is limited and because you cannot clone yourself, the maximum number of your customers is limited.
But even if you sell products, for example, you have to adjust the storage and shipping capacities according to demand.
Even when selling a digital product such as an app, you cannot grow indefinitely without adjusting the capacities of your servers and IT security or customer support staff. Some startups had to go through this painful experience, and they quickly gained a lot of attention by appearing on the TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen”.
But growth is not just growth in the quantitative sense – it also stands for development , for qualitative growth. And this growth should be sought by everyone.
No more customers, but higher priced and more satisfied customers. Not growth at any cost. The theme and title of Grant Cadone’s bestseller “ The 10X Rule ” should be treated with caution. Especially here in Europe, where most of us have a different understanding of “healthy growth” and a human market economy.
Please do it yourself: The growth mindset
Carol S. Dweck is Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. In her bestseller ” Mindset – Changing The Way You Think To Fulfill Your Potential “, she describes two different mentalities: the fixed mindset and – who would have thought that – the growth mindset:
In essence, it’s about people with a fixed mindset believing that things are “set in stone”.
You’re either good at sports or you’re not. You’re either smart or you’re not. You are either a good leader or you are not. “All talent, talent and disposition”.
It becomes problematic when people with this mindset can no longer meet expectations – be it the expectations of others of their own. Because if you fail despite high talent, you are in a dead end.
For people with a growth mindset – to use the words of TE Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia – nothing is written:
They believe that they can change at any time, that they can grow.
No matter how good or bad you are at something, you can get a little better every day through study and hard work. Your only enemy is your yesterday I . And as long as you can overcome yesterday’s me, you win.
In many studies, Dr. Dweck proved that there are not only people with one or the other mindset, but that we keep switching between the two mentalities . Depending on the situation.
Perhaps you have a growth mindset when it comes to entrepreneurship and stand out as an outstanding leader who gives top priority to the personal development of employees. But as soon as it comes to raising children, you may fall into the fixed mindset and praise your children’s good grades instead of the learning process.
So if you want to be economically successful – and only you define what constitutes “success” – then I recommend a growth mindset. Because only with this will you have long-term success. You will develop yourself, your company and your employees. You will look for new experiences, move into unknown territory, you will make mistakes – but still it is the better alternative to the fixed mindset.
Because growth and further development correspond to our human nature and advance you as an individual and us as a society.
What does the growth mindset look like in inbound marketing?
Content marketing is not a new topic. According to Google Trends , it has been a topic of conversation in Germany since 2012. And the search volume for inbound marketing has also increased since then.
This development has mean that there is now content like breakfast cereal on the shelf: too much choice and content that is too interchangeable.
It is definitely no longer enough to simply create content and be successful with it. If you want to be seen, read or heard, you have to stand out from the competition – and this is exactly where the growth mindset comes into play!
You want to set up a content hub (blog, podcast or video channel), but you have little experience or not enough resources? Do not think “I can not” but “I can still not” – and learn while you do it. You won’t knock out an article that hits the Google Charts the first time – but you will get a little better with each article. Accept and enjoy the learning curve!
Before you invest too much time in research: get started! If you don’t start, you can’t finish. For example, when it comes to a blog article, your goal may be to write a “shitty first draft”. So a first draft that is not as good as you would like it to be – but it is complete . You can then revise it. It is important that you get your project on the road and keep getting better!
Don’t let an expert in your field intimidate you or even prevent you from doing “your thing”! The cake is big enough. Let yourself instead of his or her success inspired ! Because it is proof that there is a market at all.
Likewise, there is no law that tells you how to set up your funnel or structure your blog articles – at best, recommended guidelines (like here, for example). Nevertheless, let your creativity run free and stand out from the competition with your individual style!
Conclusion
Growth for growth’s sake shouldn’t be your guiding principle. Especially not exponentially. So take the time to calmly define your goals (and don’t allow yourself to be influenced by others).
Not every startup wants to become the next unicorn. Not every coach has to fill entire halls in order to have a positive impact on the lives of their customers. Not every video has to go viral to work.
Sure, a vision – especially an unreachable one – can be that carrot that you hold in front of your nose to give your best every day. But if you don’t set realistic milestones on your way , you won’t last long.
The core of the growth mindset is that you can learn everything . And that nothing is set in stone.
That’s why you should get into the habit of just trying things out … and testing what works and what doesn’t. This will keep you learning and growing . No matter in which area.
