I met a music producer last night. Back in the 90s, at the start of his career, he'd written songs for artists that were household names (even I'd heard of them, and I'm my kids are always reminding me I'm hopelessly out of touch).
This producer's reward for his work? He was paid £150.
That's not per song, that was for his entire songwriting output for several years.
He was laughing about the price he'd paid to learn a very tough lesson. Then he smiled and said "School fees".
I've never heard this expression before, but it's a fantastic way to frame the mistakes we make.
School fees: the price we pay to learn a valuable lesson.
This producer's reward for his work? He was paid £150.
That's not per song, that was for his entire songwriting output for several years.
He was laughing about the price he'd paid to learn a very tough lesson. Then he smiled and said "School fees".
I've never heard this expression before, but it's a fantastic way to frame the mistakes we make.
School fees: the price we pay to learn a valuable lesson.
Building a care business is full of failures
I'm sure you can immediately think of a zillion mistakes you've made. I find my mind likes to remind me of my worst moments late at night, as I'm trying to sleep :-)
The hardest lessons are the really expensive ones where you can't see the point. It might be years before we get to see how that lesson has shaped us to be more successful.
The hardest lessons are the really expensive ones where you can't see the point. It might be years before we get to see how that lesson has shaped us to be more successful.
Marketing has failure built in
At least, for me, I'm used to failure.
The very nature of digital marketing, for example, is to fail until we see results.
We have to run dozens of digital ads made up of different headlines, images, copy, etc. in every possible combination. Unavoidably, we make very small losses on each of these ads as we figure out which combination is right.
Then, once we have the winning formula, we can put lots of budget behind that winner to recoup our losses and turn a profit.
At least this way, it's a short and straightforward feedback loop from failure to success.
Next time you make a mistake, try to smile like my new friend and say "School fees".
The very nature of digital marketing, for example, is to fail until we see results.
We have to run dozens of digital ads made up of different headlines, images, copy, etc. in every possible combination. Unavoidably, we make very small losses on each of these ads as we figure out which combination is right.
Then, once we have the winning formula, we can put lots of budget behind that winner to recoup our losses and turn a profit.
At least this way, it's a short and straightforward feedback loop from failure to success.
Next time you make a mistake, try to smile like my new friend and say "School fees".