Being the Best in Your Business Isn't Good Enough

Bob Bly is a famous advertising writer, the author of the Copywriter’s Handbook, and a teacher of several of the courses at AWAI, a writer’s group I belong to. I’ve always respected his work.

Here’s a great quote from Bob:

Most people, when they go into a business, think that if they are
good at what they do, they will be successful.

For instance, if they are a photographer, they believe that all
they have to do is take good pictures … and they will have more
business than they can handle.

But unfortunately, it usually doesn’t work out that way at all.

There are legions of small business owners, especially in service
industries, who are technically competent or even excellent at
their profession … yet earn only a modest living at best.

That’s because they don’t know the ultimate secret to achieving
outrageous success in any business, which is this:

Those who make the most money in any profession or service
business – from accountants and ad agencies, to window washers
and Web designers – are the ones who are the best at marketing
and selling themselves … not at performing the actual function or
service.

Doctors, attorneys, and other professionals have traditionally
held the opposite point of view. They criticize competitors who
advertise, saying, “If your product or service was any good, you
wouldn’t have to promote it with such hype.”

Nice to think so, but naïve. Sad to say, it doesn’t work that way
in the real world.