Persistence Isn’t Using The Same Tactics Over And Over
May 2nd, 2008
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The most brilliant definition of persistence ever:
“Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over.” - Seth Godin
(I hate to quote someone’s entire post, but I guess it’s OK if the post is only 21 words.)
Many things require persistence. We’re usually not good at something the first time we try it, and as we all know, practice makes perfect (or if you prefer, practice makes for improvement).
Persistence gets tricky when other people are involved. Someone often won’t do something the first time we ask. That’s why commercials have to run more than once. It’s hard to get someone’s attention, get them interested in doing what we want them to do, have them make time to do it, etc. So we often have to ask more than once.
But how do you ask more than once? Do you just say the same thing over and over again? After all, it eventually worked for Bart and Lisa Simpson with their “Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore? Will you take us to Mount Splashmore?”
But using the same tactics over and over can get very annoying. Even if it somehow works the first time, you’re likely to burn bridges in the process, and then it won’t work a second time. Is there a better way of being persistent when asking others for help?
When I wrote The Zen of Blogging, it was well received by those who read it, but with only 20 subscribers, I knew I wasn’t going to get it in front of many people by just posting it to my blog.
On the other hand, if I could get it in front of Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, I thought there was a good chance he’d write a post about it (after all, it’s relevant to his audience). And then I’d get a flood of highly targeted traffic, people interested in blogging, referred by someone who has a reputation as a blogging expert. It was the best promotional opportunity I could hope for.
But how could I grab Darren’s attention? How do you get noticed by someone who gets a thousand emails per second when they don’t know who you are?
First, I left some comments on his blog. While busy bloggers don’t respond to many comments, they probably read most if not all of them. I wanted Darren to see my name and know me as someone who leaves decent comments. This would hopefully make it more likely that he would read the email I was going to send him.
And then I ran into a serious obstacle. Darren wrote a post saying he was going out of town. He wasn’t going to be reachable when my ebook was released.
But another opportunity presented itself. Darren gave an open invitation for guest bloggers to help him keep up the posting while he was gone. If I could have a guest post published, I could put a link to my ebook at the bottom of the post. But the competition was fierce, and my post wasn’t chosen (at least not at the time; it could possibly be chosen down the road).
When I released my ebook, I emailed Darren even though I knew he wasn’t around. I quickly introduced myself, said I knew he was gone but I wanted to tell him about my ebook, and then, most importantly, I told him why he should care. Just a couple of sentences explaining why I thought my ebook would interest him personally, and why it would interest his readers.
When I didn’t get a response, that’s where many people would either (1) give up, or (2) keep emailing him to ask “Did you read my ebook yet? What about now? What about now?” I didn’t want to give up, but I knew that emailing him over and over would just be annoying. So I decided that now just wasn’t the time, and I’d come back to him later. (Some people would have emailed him again after a few days, which I think would have been OK, but I chose not to.)
I saw an opportunity when Darren posted that he had just gotten some help with cleaning up his email inbox from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. Leo helped him develop a system for dealing with the massive pile of emails he already had (most likely deleting them), and for managing his future emails more efficiently. Darren said he was sorry if he hadn’t gotten back to anyone, but he invited people to resend any emails he might have missed before “the great email culling of 2008.”
So I just emailed him again, saying I was taking him up on his offer to resend emails he might have missed. I told him about my ebook, and now I had some good testimonials to include to get him interested. He wrote back to confirm he got my email, and had added my ebook to his longish list of things to check out. A couple of days later, he posted about it, the traffic starting pouring in, and I had one of my biggest breakthroughs as a blogger.
This happened not because I used the same tactics over and over, but because I had the same goal over and over.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:10 am
Hunter, what a great reminder of what persistence really is. And thank you for sharing the process you took regarding your ebook. It clarified that persistence isn’t about “pushing”, but about keeping one’s intention in focus while taking inspired action.
Mags | Woo-Woo Wisdom’s last blog post..Esther And Jerry Hicks: The Law Of Attraction
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:01 am
Hi Hunter - Now that’s real persistence. Well done getting your ebook mentioned by Darren and I’m glad it’s sending you a ton of traffic.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..But …Maybe You Should Button It?
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 am
Thank you for sharing this. It’s inspiring!
I think it’s also about patience. I guess persistence and patience go hand in hand. And, when you are patient, it is easier to wait until the next opportunity presents itself instead of doing the same thing over and over again.
Vered - MomGrind’s last blog post..How to Promote Your Blog, Or: Give Me Some Digg Luv
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 am
I always get really relieved when people quote the good advice that was around awhile ago, since I wasn’t here yet. Actually, if you could just cull all the great advice from the last decade or so and write a post on each one? That’d be great. Thanks.
Or I could go track it down myself.
::sigh::
Why is this blogging stuff so HARD?
Does the first definition of persistence seem like the definition of madness to you? “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”? Whereas the second definition of persistence is, “Doing different things all the time toward a single result.” That’s kind of cool. Whenever I can work madness in there, I do.
Tei - Rogue Ink’s last blog post..Option Bonk
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Well done. Hunter I really enjoyed how you didn’t just say don’t simply repeat over and over and call it persistence, you showed us what you meant. That is the art of teaching and communicating.
It is a real thought provoking post for me. Where am I repeating myself and expecting different results? Where am I being creative and listeining to Life’s clues and responding to create a firm intention?
I will be giving this some thought!
Over and over and over and over again.
Harmony’s last blog post..Are You BIG Enough To Take Up Space?
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Thanks, Hunter, for sharing this. I was wondering too how you managed to grab Darren’s attention. It’s such a great ebook that it would have been a pity if you didn’t get the publicity that it deserved.
Lovely point you made here about being persistent in our goals rather than in the same tactics that have not worked.
All the best,
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map’s last blog post..Positive Affirmations: 4 Ways To Programming Through Water
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Great post and good job, Hunter. Patience is a virtue.
I think it’s important for people to understand this point you make here. You “attacked” your problem from different angles until you found the one that worked.
John Hoff’s last blog post..How To Buy A House Like A Real Estate Investor: Part 3 - More On Dealing With Down Payments
May 4th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I like how people have paraphrased this idea in different ways (keeping one’s intention in focus while taking inspired action, being patient and waiting for the next opportunity to present itself, attacking the problem from different angles until you find the one that works, etc).
Some people have mentioned that classic definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting different results. I might have to write a post about that.
@ Tei, tell you what, I’ll meet you halfway. If you cull a list of all the great advice from the last decade, I’ll try to write a post on each one!
May 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Ooh, intriguing. I’ll see what I can do.
Gotta say, I have some deep and abiding love for that avatar of yours.
Tei - Rogue Ink’s last blog post..Working on the Weekends
May 5th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
And like they say, “the rest is history”….
This is funny. I thought Darren just “happened” on your ebook. Little did I know you were working behind the scenes to get his attention.
You persistence did pay off, and now you’re also getting your ebook published in many foreign languages. Way to go, Hunter!
Thank you for sharing how you made it happen.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Hi, Barbara. I’m not sure what blogs Darren reads. I guess it’s possible that he would have found it eventually, but I wasn’t patient enough to wait and see!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hey Hunter!
This is such an inspiring story!
Recently, I discovered the power of keeping your goals in mind.
I think the most important part of this goal is to see it as already completed so much so that you can see the details of what it looks like when you’ve achieved it and more importantly what it feels like, don’t you think?
You are superb man! Keep it up! =)
To CANI,
SaiF
SaiF’s last blog post..Can I Use The Law of Attraction To Win The Lottery?
May 6th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Hunter,
Wow! You’ve a great blog and many readers. I agree with you regarding persistence. Albert Einstein used to say - “You reap same result if you repeat same process everyday.” This signifies importance of experimenting and learning from failures yet keeping a visual image of the goal that we would like to reach.
Needless to say, I’ve subscribed to your blog. Thanks for visiting my blog and also for the kind words.
Shilpan
Shilpan | successsoul.com’s last blog post..Another Guest Post: 6 Ways to Attract Negative Vibes and Responses
May 6th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
@ SaiF, yes, having an intense visualization of your goal makes it easy to keep it fresh in your mind. A vague desire to achieve your goal is a lot weaker than being able to see and feel it.
@ Shilpan, I hadn’t heard that quote before, but it’s a great reminder not to keep following a broken process. Everyone experiences failures, so we might as well learn from them. I’m glad to hear you’ve subscribed, and I’ll look forward to more of your posts as well.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hunter,
You are right. The quote is not exact. What I am stressing the gist of what he said about repeatedly doing same thing without taking risk to learn new ways yet keeping the purpose or goal in mind with practice of persistence. Sorry if I mislead.
Thanks
Shilpan
Shilpan | successsoul.com’s last blog post..Another Guest Post: 6 Ways to Attract Negative Vibes and Responses
May 6th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
@ Shilpan, I think there’s a misunderstanding here–I just meant that I hadn’t heard that quote before. If it wasn’t an exact quote, then I didn’t notice!
May 17th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
It took me awhile, but I finally got to read this excellent post (is this persistance?!). I enjoy your blog, one with depth and worth a regular check. You cover a lot of ground and it is all p[ositive and upbeat.
I’m blogging becuase I enjoy reading them in the morning over coffee instead of a paper. The world needs good news and lots of positive encouragement.
Thanks!
Kip de Moll’s last blog post..Belaying Floors
May 17th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
@ Kip, yes, I guess that counts as persistence! Thanks for the compliments. I agree that good news and positive encouragement are needed…I don’t watch the news at all because it’s all so negative. Thanks for blogging!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:00 am
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