Cold Feet

Welcome to another day of my marketing journey. I am Chris Teague, and this blog is my daily journal of marketing in today's ever-changing world of communications and business. I thank you for reading, and encourage you to comment as well as follow this blog publicly, so that you have opportunities to network with other followers. Now, it's time for today's topic: "Cold Feet."

I decided on today's title because my feet have been absolutely freezing all day! Tomorrow, I might just put some hand and feet warmers in my pocket in case my extremities are unable to overcome the cold weather. If you are asking yourself what having cold feet has to do with marketing, I am sure you're not alone, so I will let you know. This is your cue to continue reading...

I met with an intern from East Tennessee State University last night to discuss the work he was going to do with my company, WIN Firm. As we began discussing some of the projects he was going to work on, I could tell that my intern was a little hesitant to speak out, so I immediately told him: "You are free to share any ideas..." You see, my intern was facing a situation many creative people feel at times: keeping quiet because you think others in the room won't grasp your way of thinking. I call this refrain from sharing, "having cold feet."

Just like brides and grooms, you need to get over having cold feet, and take that walk down the aisle. In this case, if you have an idea, you should share it. I'll provide you with a real life example that I dealt with recently. I thought of a creative advertising campaign for a local security company that I worked with in the past, and wrote down the campaign from start to finish. I pitched the concept to a few of my colleagues and friends to measure their response. Guess what? They all liked the idea!

Now, I have to share the bad part... I didn't pitch the idea to my former client because I suffered from cold feet. Can you believe it? I sampled the ad concept with colleagues, friends and even other business owners, and they all liked what I had come up with. The pitch to my former client should have been a cake walk, but it wasn't. For some reason, I just felt like the guy wouldn't like it, and my great idea would be wasted. As I watched television last night, I realized I was wrong. A commercial for my former client's competitor aired, and it was very similar to the concept I had created! Why didn't I just send an email to my former client?

Friends, my cold feet prevented me from helping my former client capture his market first. Yes, my concept is a bit different than what I saw on the tube last night, but it could have been on the tube first. You see what having cold feet can do to your idea? I hope that my intern reads this blog post and has all the confidence he needs to share and get rid of cold feet. Friends, you too, have ideas worth sharing... Go share them!

Your friend,
Chris Teague- That marketing guy you will remember that helps you