When I was ten months old, my family was barbecuing outside on our small patio in Minnesota. At one point, my parents went into the house briefly to prepare the side dishes, and while they were inside, I decided to explore our patio. Since I had started walking when I was nine months old, I was pretty mobile for a youngster. For some reason, I was captivated by our grill when I began my patio explorations. I'm not sure why, but I was. Unfortunately, our grill had already been turned on, and it was extremely hot. Filled with curiosity and ignorance, and before my parents could stop me, I turned around and touched the grill. Ouch. I burned my hand badly, and had to be taken to the hospital. Although I had second-degree burns, I would recover in time. It was only a temporary flesh wound. You could learn a lot from this story, but one big takeaway is: what you don't know can hurt you. Ignorance has a price. This time the price of ignorance was second-degree burns, but when we're older, the price can be much greater.
I once had a coaching client who told me she had found a web development company on Google who she ended up paying $12,000 to build her an eCommerce website, and another $4,000 to get her setup on Facebook and Twitter. Shocked by this, I asked her why she had overpaid so much for these services. She told me that she didn't know she was being overcharged, and realized in hindsight, that it was a bad move. She didn't know the other website building options available to her, and the company hadn't been straightforward with her about all that was required to run a successful eCommerce business. Now, she was out $16,000, hadn't made one sale, and was in deep panic mode. Five months later, she sent me this email:
After I asked her to clarify, she sent me this reply:
I was grieved to read these emails, because not only was it the death of a business, it was also the death of a dream: the dream of being a full-time entrepreneur running her own business. What you don't know can hurt you, in life and in business. And sometimes, it can even put you out of business - such as the case with this former coaching client. This is one reason why training and coaching are so important. Investing a little time and money in training and coaching can go a long way in preventing collateral damage - such as wasting $16,000, or closing down business completely. Whether it's a book, an audio course, a few podcast episodes, taking someone out for dinner to pick their brain, or paying for 1-on-1 mentoring, training and coaching can reveal blindspots, empower you with knowledge and skills, and help you avoid huge financial mistakes.
At the end of the day, you simply can't afford to work with the wrong agency. If you're ready to get found online and grow your revenue with a digital marketing agency you can trust, Summit Digital Marketing is here to help. Get a FREE proposal today to get started.
