Don’t Forget to Experiment
“There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes” – Richard Buckminster
Sometimes we get stuck in habits that prevent us from achieving success. In my opinion, one of the main obstacles for entrepreneurs is the unwillingness to act upon new ideas or development strategies which go beyond their comfort zone.
We bask in familiarity and repeat the same processes again and again because we know what to expect, because we fear uncertainty. Sometimes, businesses or websites stop short of the tipping point because they fail to offer that one special feature/benefit which makes them relevant and essential.
Buyers/readers have limited resources (attention/money). They are forced to comparatively examine what is out there. The site that fulfills their needs and wants will win their time, while others will be partially or completely ignored. This is a fact. You need to understand that you are constantly assessed by your audience.
If a competitor already has a near-monopoly on the fulfillment of specific user/reader needs, how can you assert yourself in the same space? The easiest way is to be different. Novelties enthrall attention. Experiment and test new ways of fulfilling needs, new ways of creating wants. Observe the market carefully.
If something sticks, work unwavering around the clock to milk the attention you’ve got. Open up all the communication channels, actively ask for more opinions. Be insatiable for feedback. Celebrate early readers/users. Give them a reason to spread your name. Let them shape the way your website or business grows.
An experimental mindset is crucial. Embrace possibilities, materialize ideas. Don’t hesitate and stifle your potential. Learn to trust in collective intelligence: the market is the best place to get feedback, not the dueling voices in your head.
Every new day is a chance to refine and improve ideas. But if you don’t give them a chance in the first place, there’ll never be any room for growth.
Love it! I’ve tried a lot of different ideas with my business. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. But if I’m doing something that stands out, I know I have a better chance of hitting on something good.
This is, of course, why people talk so much about niches. If you find a great niche, just a little different from the rest of the crowd, you’ll get the people who want exactly what you’re offering and weren’t quite satisfied with what the crowd has to offer.
I agree! It is so important to experiment with your business, website, or whatever. Too many times people quit their business ideas because they may have failed to overcome the 1st hurdle. Experiment. Try something new. Be different. That’s what its all about.
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Now wonder I keep getting readers from your site reading my post on Adagio Teas…I’ve been linking to it in my “website link”…*stupid*
…I just thought Dosh Dosh readers really loved tea…
It’s true, you have to constantly allow your site to evolve and that is by taking risks. Don’t stifle your creativity by stopping yourself from experimenting because of fear of failure. Failure is only a key to help you unlock the next step towards success.
Your comment about allowing the readers to shape your website’s outcome is especially meaningful to me. With my own blog, some posts fall totally flat. It’s good I experimented, but the feedback (or lack of feedback) is priceless. The next time I know more about where my readers want me to take them.
I like experiment and ask my readers to experiment.
–blog for dream–
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
An equally sufficient quote by Thomas Edison that could have went at the top of your article.
Sometimes where you experiment should not be the same place where you are currently doing most of your work. I have paid the price in the past for over-experimenting too rapidly on a site and tired out the audience. Learn from experiments at one site and apply them to another. If you’re not failing fast enough, you’re not succeeding fast enough.
Good piece Maki. Learned a long time ago, you can read all you want but ’smart’ experimenting wins the race, whether it comes to growing a blog audience or very carefully, in SEO. Thanks.
Great advice Maki. Too many people do the same tired old marketing year after year, and the customer becomes immune to the messages.
When I was with Rainbow, they were always trying to stop francisees from doing their own thing. They just didn’t seem to realise that their 7 year old sales letters no longer worked.
I like “experiment” that is the good way to guide. That is good article.
I totally agree. Sometimes even a relatively small seeming feature which you offer that your competitors dont have may make the difference.
You are 100% right Maki. A well-known example is Google, which have defeated Yahoo! in many aspects. I think Google is a lover of being different. Isn’t it?
Another great post. There’s no success without risk.
I have been trying many things and retrying after a while to see if they work during different times and seasons.
This is so true. The only way you are going to find out what works and what doesn’t is by taking chances and trying things out. Most people are too concerned about failing and what people will think when they should actually look at mistakes as experiences that happen on the path to success. When you come upon a strategy that truly works the benefits far outweigh all the errors put together.
Well said. With the internet in a constant flux, we need creativity, determination and differentiation to succeed. This also means that we are always learning and trying out new methods. No one knows what works best, and sometimes it’s really up to us to experiment with what we know, and adapt it for the best results.
I’ve linked to this post – http://www.what-sells-online.com/blog/2008/02/how-your-compet.html
Cheers!
Samantha
http://www.what-sells-online.com
Let me just add a point here. But first I should say that this one of the best entrepreneurship insights I’ve read so far. I remember one quotation: “You will never know what you can do until you try.”
I recently started a work from home business and have been doing a lot of experimenting.
Experimenting is indeed very important, but I am an impatient guy. And seeing that every experiment takes time to get feedback/results I am always waiting for stuff.
I’m glad I saw a link to this article as I had somehow unsubscribed to your feed and not noticed!
Anyway great article, and I am re-subscribed now. Everything you said is exactly what I am trying to do but you have made me a bit more sure about the whole thing.
4 words….
Test, Track, Tweak and Repeat.
I think even if your competitors have the market dominated, you can still break through. It will take time but with hard work and the right techniques it may be done.
Maki,
Thanks for great advice you provide. But I have a problem, whenever I try to experiment with my ads position and looks my CTR goes down. Getting back to first settings does not restore the previous CTR. This makes me very afraid of experimenting. Can you also provide a time frame(depending on traffic) I should test the settings. I have 150 ad impressions for adsnse ads.
Risk = Success You got to think things through, see an opening, and then RUN through that opening. It’s “good scary.”
BOT