Successful Online Marketers Eat Frogs
Why do we generally decline to eat the frog first thing in the morning, or at any time during the day? It’s because these major tasks usually involve things that are totally foreign to us so we feel there won’t be much satisfaction in the short term.
Frogs Top to Bottom.
People at all levels of businesses– newbies to veterans– have their frogs and we all find ways to avoid them.
What is the one thing you could do right now, today, that would move your business along? What could get you closer to being in business, get you that next client, create future income?
I first heard the saying from Brian Tracy, the personal development expert and sales trainer; in his book Eat That Frog! He uses it as a colorful way to say, “Stop procrastinating.”.
Are You Really Hungry?
” Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”.
He mingled among France’s upper classes, Chamfort supported the French Revolution. His use of the “frog” statement was aimed at his disgust with French high society.
More specifically, “eating the frog,” means tackling the biggest or most important task( s) that will move your business forward.
If you really want to be in business– if you’re really hungry– you’ve got to eat the frogs.
This humorous saying has been credited to 17th century American author Mark Twain (though someone on my staff has pointed out to me that there is no evidence that Twain ever said or wrote it; it’s a translation of a statement documented as having been written by a 17th century French humorist named Nicholas Chamfort, who was quoting an associate known as “Mr. de Lassay”).
How do I stop wasting time and just get on with it?
If you can motivate yourself to take on and complete the things you’ve been putting off– usually, they are big, meaningful things that would move your business forward– you will find yourself actually in business.
For people who are further along and do have an audience, the method is to announce your “frog” in an email, on social media, or both. It’s a good idea to put some cash up as well, to ensure you really do deliver. Declare that the penalty for failing to deliver is some amount of cash that you really can’t afford to lose. Either deliver and reclaim your cash or fail to deliver on time and lose it.
For someone just starting out, who does not yet have a list of customers and leads, you would make yourself accountable to a friend or family member.
Final Thought.
Use self-imposed accountability if motivation is hard to summon. The frog will seem palatable in comparison if you make the deadline short enough and the penalty stiff enough.
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