“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem.
We all have twenty-four hour days.”
― Zig Ziglar
You 4 Percent
In the last lesson, I told you that you have to play to your strengths and not copy the big guys. They have different agendas, they have mind-share, and they have money. As a small businessperson, your priority is “making a profit.”[i]In order to make a profit, you need to focus exclusivelyon the things that matter.
[i]Dib, A. (2016). The 1-page Marketing Plan: Get new customers, make more money and stand out from the crowd. Miami, FL: Successwise. (p. 13).
Image source: Amazon
In 2007, Tim Ferriss re-popularized the hundred-year old concept of the 80/20 rule in his book The 4-Hour Work-Week. 80/20 is also known as the Pareto principle (named for the economist Vilfredo Pareto). Simply put, 80% of your results flow from 20% of your efforts.
Ferriss, who had been working 15-hour days, began to ask himself “which 20% of sources are resulting in 8% of my desired outcomes and happiness?”[i]and it change everything for him. Hence, the title of his book,The 4-Hour Work-Week. This is another great book you should read, but that is an entirely different story.
Dib took the concept a step further. He explained:
If you think the 80/20 rule is exciting, the 64/4 rule will blow your mind. You see we can apply the 80/20 rule to the rule itself. So we take 80% of 80 and 20% of 20 and end up with the 64/4 rule.
So 64% of effects come from 4% of causes.
Put another way, the majority of your success comes from the top 4% of your actions. Or put yet another way, 96% of the stuff you do is a waste of time (comparatively).
The most surprising thing is that the 80/20 rule and 64/4 rule still hold up in a remarkably accurate way.
Dib concluded: “If you want more success, you need to start paying attention to and expand the things that give you the most leverage.”[ii]
This is the third lesson I am drawing from The 1-Page Marketing Plan.The book is excellent. Even in this lesson, I have not touched on the main theme of his book—his marketing plan format. I strongly urge you to buy the book. It is only $12 for the paperback on Amazon and it is free if you have Kindle Unlimited(and you can try kindle unlimited for free for a month).
What about you?
What is your 4%? Is it keeping current customers happy? Reading the 1-Page Marketing plan? Pleasing 5 of your top customers? Getting new referrals? Focus your time where it counts.
[i]Ferriss, T. (2007). The 4-Hour work week: Escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich. New York: Crown Publishers. (p. 71).
[ii]Dib, A. (2016). The 1-page Marketing Plan: Get new customers, make more money and stand out from the crowd. Miami, FL: Successwise. (p. 7).