Hi, Ezra here.
James Schramko here.
And we want to talk to you today about tactic...
Guess you want to put your surname in?
Firestone.
Yeah, Ezra Firestone
Very good.
A little hand gesture there too that kind of... deliberate.
Yeah, so Ezra Firestone.
James Schramko.
Look at us.
Tactics versus strategy.
You know we're so focused, so many people are so focused on tactics.
They want to know the one little trick, the one little tip, that's going to help them
rank, that's going to help them convert, that's going to help them get customers, that's going
to help them grow their business.
But it turns out that tactics are just kind of a smoke and mirrors.
They're not really valuable.
Yeah well tactics are just a little bit.
You know, there's no point... it's pointless actually if your strategies are all wrong.
So one thing we do when we look at our business and when we look at other people's businesses,
which both of us do because we each have coaching programs, is we have a look at Why are we
trying to do this at all?
What is the point here?
If we're here and we're trying to get to there... in fact we should do this to the audience:
If you're here and you're trying to get to there, there will be little steps along the
way.
The steps are the little tactical things but the here to there is the overarching strategy.
And we shouldn't say that tactics aren't important.
Well, they're part of the deal.
They're part of the game.
But tips, tricks, whatever.
That's not enough on their own because they can take you all around the block.
That's right.
So really, when you're thinking about building an e-commerce business, starting a services
business, becoming an information marketer, it doesn't really matter what your business
is going to be.
Step one is to figure out, where do you want to go?
What is the end result that you are looking for?
This is a metaphor that you do a lot.
What's the end result that you're looking for?
Where are you now and what are those steps that you can plot along...
We'll do a little version.
If you're here and you want to get to there, there'll be little steps.
So the metaphor that I use is the train tracks.
You're at Grand Central Station and you want to get to here, so you lay the tracks and
then you do the tactical, you know, putting the coal into the train...
it's an old train,not a new train.
Old school.
There's like you get up at the station, you go to the bathroom, get some food then you
get back on.
So now you know, when someone's saying, "Hey go over here," or "Do this" or "This little
act gets you..." you say, I don't care.
I know where I'm going.
I'm going to this station here and I own the train.
That's another reason that tactics hurt is because they're all shiny.
They're that new shiny...
Oooo shiny?
That's like a beer...
I meant new shiny.
I don't know what a beer...
Oooo!
Isn't that shiny?
You know what they do is they divert your attention.
It's so easy to get just sucked away into some strategy or tactic and lose focus on
that narrow path that you've set for yourself.
What ends up happening is when you put your attention on one thing and you really focus
on that thing and keep going in that direction, you get really far.
The difference between a shotgun...
Did you make that pot plant over there?
The what?
I was just distracting you... see.
That was good.
That was it.
That was so good.
I just took him off track.
Think about the shot now.
Now what does he do, where was I on my track?
And he's going to come back, takes a while to figure out where you were to get stuck
back into it.
But it's a difference between you know, people are shooting and they're trying to like shoot
bottles or there are marksman you know, what do those guys call those people that shoot
people in long distances?
Assassins?
When snipers are shooting at people, they're not shooting with a shotgun right?
Because you're not going to hit someone.
Well, unless you know, unless you're like a comet.
You got to keep it tight.
Keep it tight.
Yeah...man, I don't know.
You're not, you don't want...
Should be the rifle.
Get the laser scope and pick your target a long way off.
Then the tactics are, you know put the bullet in the chamber, I'll just get...
I'll get my, you could be like calling and say you know, wind 5 degrees to the left up
two degrees, yeah and then pull the trigger.
Tactic.
Shewwww!
Target.
Hit.
Done!
And you know the funny thing about tactics is it's likely that you already know all of
the ones that you need.
You know more than you need.
To have the success that you have.
You're going to get some stuff off the bookshelf.
Keep that bookshelf here.
But the truth of the matter is, you don't really need new tactics.
The old one works just fine.
What you already know is enough to get you where you want to go.
You just have to trust in yourself and go for it.
Yeah, you know too much.
If you knew less, you'll get there quicker.
If you were trying to sell software and you didn't know how to program, you'd get there
quicker because you're not getting off the train, fooling around trying to do code.
Well, let's take a look at one of the big developments for us this weekend.
We did a little, we've had a lot, a few big developments but one of them is I'm getting
rid of a whole side of my business.
Back...
Back?
Over here... was I... where...
You're off cam.
I'm sorry about that.
You got a big big...
I'm huge.
I'm just... not like that!
(Laughter) My mind went there, too.
You go explicit.
You know.
I don't know what I was... that was a...
Development?
Big developments.
Is that I'm actually getting rid of a big part of my business and I'm focusing on just
the thing, just the part of that side of my business that I'm really, really good at and
I'm going to see exponential growth because of it.
And I'm focusing on the part of business that I'm really excited about, that we're really
good at.
And when we talk about it, together we are hot diggity damn or something to that effect.
Hot diggity dawg?
Something like that.
And turns out, we could both do the same thing and it works out really well for both of us.
Yeah, so focus is the key here.
Strategy, you know, knowing the... it's sort of like the big picture of you.
Why you're doing it.
What are you doing?
How you going to do it?
The little stuff's less important.
The big stuff is like, be happy when you get to your destination.
Yes.
Plan for success.
People who don't have a destination are always unhappy.
If you set your destination and you get there...
Celebrate that.
A lot of people graduate from college and then are miserable because they've, like,
spent all this time working towards this goal but haven't really thought about what you're
going to do after they've achieved that so then they go to a bit of a depression.
It's sort of a common thing that happens.
Post-success depression.
So, plan for when you succeed because you will.
Particularly if you're hanging out with us as we'd like you to continue to do.
So, Ezra Firestone here.
James Schramko.
Thanks for hanging out.
Especially considering the quality of that video.
Alright!