How
to Get the Most Out of Mistakes - by
Paul Tobey
Has this ever happened to you?
Recently I sent out an email campaign promoting one of my 3-Day
Internet Marketing Seminars, and by mistake, I sent over 5,000 emails
that started with “Hi Bob.”
Aside from the fact that I don’t even know that many Bobs,
this huge marketing blunder really doesn’t look at all professional
on my part. Naturally people couldn’t resist letting me know
of my mistake, in fact one person emailed me right away to remind
me that the biggest mistake I could make in marketing is call the
client by the wrong name.
Normally I would have agreed! But…
Out of the 5,000 emails sent out; 18 people unsubscribed, 8 people
asked me who Bob was, 4 emailed me back to tell me that I had sent
them the wrong email and 3 others were joking with me in one fashion
or another.
Out of the 5,000 people only 3 people were super ticked off. These
are the know-it-alls who promptly told me how to run my business
better.
But, do you know what? 23 people signed up for the course anyway.
My huge marketing blunder actually told me a lot about people.
Some people don’t care what you call them as long as they
get the right information. No ego attached. Some people are so driven
by honesty that they took the time to email me to inform me of the
fact that I misdirected my email that was meant for Bob!
And, the jokers just found an opportunity to give me their punch
line and made me laugh out loud.
Mistakes are truly awesome. Through time, great thinkers have come
up with the following great quotes;
“A man’s errors are his portals of discovery”
James Joyce
“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes”
Oscar Wilde
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything
new” Albert Einstein
“Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster
than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception
of tequila and hand guns.” Mitch Ratcliffe
The old Paul with Tinnitus would have beaten himself up for days.
The new Paul just sits back and enjoys how mistakes unfold, and
watched with both curiosity and detachment how the universe will
settle the dust of my mistakes.
At one time this would have sent my stress through the roof and
my tinnitus would have screamed so loud I would have been reduced
to a near catatonic state.
But, I’ve learned to be grateful for my mistakes, and watch
with wonder and gratitude. I grow because of them. I marvel at the
lessons, and I admire the perfection in each mistake.
As a professional concert pianist, I used to hate mistakes to the
point of disgust. Through my studies, I learned how Miles Davis,
the best jazz trumpet player in the world, would relish in a mistake,
hang out there a while until a wrong note became the perfect note.
What is potentially perceived as a mistake by thousands is actually
just the universe working in strange perfection. Actually, I now
have a new story for my students about how a potentially huge marketing
blunder isn’t that much of a blunder after all.
Of course, if I didn’t call everyone Bob, my conversion rates
would have probably been higher and there would have been no negativity
at all.
Or maybe I wouldn’t have received this much attention? It
doesn’t really matter. What matters is; if you are hanging
on to mistakes of the past, or keep punishing yourself for suffering
or your family’s suffering, or you judge yourself for mistakes
-- it’s time to educate yourself on what mistakes really are.
Mistakes are perfect, they are wise and they are very clear markers
in the navigation process towards a great goal.
“In fact, they’re only mistakes if you make ‘em
twice!” – Paul Tobey
Paul Tobey is a professional speaker and a professional concert
pianist. His seminars include varying topics such as; tinnitus,
piano lessons,
internet marketing,
public speaking,
train the trainer and more. |