Please everyone and kiss your ass goodbye

Here’s a fabulous story which illustrates the point that you can’t please everyone. It is adapted from Aesops’ fable “The Old Man, the Boy, and the Donkey.” I often quote it (thank you Michael Port) to illustrate the importance of focusing eveything you say and do only on the niche you’re trying to serve, and on no one and nothing else.

The message in the story is so true. You’re making a big mistake if you aim your business offering and your marketing messages at everyone who maybe, possibly, somehow, could, might, or some day, have the capacity to buy your product or service. Take the message to heart and enjoy.

The Old Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

An old man, a boy, and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked beside him. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people who remarked, “What a shame! He makes that little boy walk.” They then decided they both would walk.

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal, and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well kiss your ass goodbye.

This post is brought to you by Robert Clay

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About Robert Clay

Robert Clay has been growing businesses since age 19. His first two businesses went global. He eventually sold them to one of the largest companies in Europe, and played a major part in taking one of their business units to No.1 in the world in their field. Since then he has studied and mastered more than 200 of the world’s most successful marketing strategies, building-up an unprecedented 3.5 million page knowledgebase. For a decade he also conducted an experiment which transformed the thinking of hundreds of entrepreneurs, and through his famous 3-day Quantum Leap workshop he teaches business founders how to create breakthrough marketing results. In recent times he has written eight in-depth books based on his research and real life experience, with twenty eight more to come. These form the basis for his invitation-only Eureka program where he mentors groups of business founders among the top 1% of entrepreneurs into market leadership in their fields.

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6 Responses to Please everyone and kiss your ass goodbye

  1. KonstantinMiller July 6, 2009 at 7:57 pm #

    Hello. I think the article is really interesting. I am even interested in reading more. How soon will you update your blog?

  2. Robert Clay July 6, 2009 at 8:02 pm #

    I aim to add a couple of articles every week. Some weeks I will no doubt add more, and some weeks I may to have time to add any. Have you read some of the other articles on the site?

  3. Buddy Scalera July 15, 2011 at 1:49 pm #

    Well done. A story told with a touch of humor and irony is always more memorable. The underlying truth is essential too.

    You just cant react and change based on the whims of society. Your agency will not make everybody happy. And you cant carry a donkey.

    Buddy
    Http://www.wordspicturesweb.com

  4. Robert Clay July 15, 2011 at 2:04 pm #

    Thanks Buddy, Well put.

  5. david k waltz October 28, 2011 at 1:12 pm #

    Robert,

    A new version of the Grimm’s classic from you coming soon? :)
    david k waltz´s last [type] ..Big Data Analytics – The McKinsey Mash – Part One

  6. Robert Clay October 28, 2011 at 2:59 pm #

    No David. Nothing planned!

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