Progress Makes Perfection Part 1

I bet you thought I typed that wrong.  

“Practice makes perfect'' is what we usually hear.

What do you think has a higher chance of making you money?

Perfection or Progress? 

I’m speaking to online business newbies AND those who have been doing this a while and are delaying going live with the “next big thing” in their business.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series on this topic.

Christina Haftman, Creating Digital Assets (someone I greatly admire and is a champion for “real talk”), wrote a great post that inspired my post today:

“We are living in an age where people are using TECHNOLOGY and its opportunity for overwhelm for “playing business” instead of actually doing business.

• You are on the 6th iteration of your website that you haven’t published yet

• You are on the 12th iteration of logo design or business name

• You are trying to get your 18-month auto-responder sequence copy perfected, instead of sending a single broadcast email to your list or going live

Are you focusing on LEAD GENERATING and INCOME PRODUCING ACTIVITIES?”

I truly believe that in sales, you either sell something, learn something, or…if you are truly lucky…both.

Where are you spending your time and calling it “progress” when it is really just busy work trying to make it “perfect”? 

Is it that when you say to yourself, “I’m working on perfecting my page/product/offer”, it sounds better as a reason for delaying going live rather than admitting the possible truth?  

“I’m scared of going live.” “What if it bombs?”

“What if no one buys?” “It isn’t perfect yet!”

“If it looks like (insert guru name)’s site, I will make sales!”

“I recorded the videos using my iPhone, it’s not professional.” “Once I go live the haters will come for me so it has to be perfect!”  

Ouch.

I know it is an “Ouch” because I’ve had coaches ask me this same question when I told them what I was spending time on INSTEAD of lead-generating activities or going live with my offer, and it HURT.  I mean OUCH!  But they were right, spot on and it hurt.

They also did me the biggest favor with real talk and not babying me or worrying if my feelings would get hurt.

I STILL get caught up in this cycle of hiding behind the activities that “feel” like I’m making progress but in reality…AREN’T.

Yep, I said “hiding behind”.  

But Kimi, how can perfecting something so it is the very best version of itself before I go live be wrong?

If it keeps you from making an impact, sharing your solution with those who desperately desire it, and keeping you from making progress and money, it’s wrong. It is like putting the cart before the horse.

I am going to beat this horse to death until it is in the very marrow of your bones:

People don’t care about perfection.  The MAIN thing they care about is that you are speaking to what THEY most DESIRE, the TRANSFORMATION they will experience, and whether your solution delivers on your promised outcome.  

When you are starting out in an online business you need to get known, stop being a secret, start selling, and then perfect it. 

I am embarrassed at how long I avoided going live until I had a professionally designed logo when in reality, it didn’t matter until I started making money and became known.  

A stinkin’ logo kept me from seeing success earlier in my journey.  

RealTalk: No one cares about your logo. Use your name for goodness sake until you come up with one.

I am humbled by the thought of how many hours and weeks wasted (where I could be making money) trying to make sure my one-page combo site/sales page was PERFECT.  

Real Talk:  It’s still not perfect. I just focus on the promised outcome I provide and that my #1 solution delivers on my promised outcome. 

If you get that right, you are 99% of the way there! Then, as I get feedback from clients, I tighten up my copy. 

Branding, don’t get me started on this. I mean professional branding/branding voice.

If you are new, work on professional branding AFTER you start selling and have the evidence and proof that your offer/solution/product has “legs” and you make money so you CAN afford to hire a professional branding expert.  It’s worth the money.  But don’t wait to go live until you have a professional branding place.  

Real Talk:  You can go live with a sales page-type email, a payment gateway, and a manual email for delivery.  No professional branding is needed.   

OR purchase a Kajabi theme Template from someone like Meg Burrage or Penny Clements for your look and feel to start.  Then go make it “your own” once you start selling. 

People ULTIMATELY care about the transformation and outcome YOUR SOLUTION provides.   

In “Doing” and taking action, you will perfect it a little more each time you go live and make forward progress and, more importantly, money along the journey. 

Make progress, and stop striving for perfection.  

Be scared and do it anyway. That is true bravery.

Worry about perfection as you make progress along your journey and make money as you perfect it. 

Here’s to taking imperfect action to make progress that will lead to you perfecting it,

Kimi Brown

Joyful Contrarian

P.S.  In Part 2 I will share the time-saving, 4% traction-gaining activities that lead to generating leads and selling that I do daily to move my business forward.