Treading water

This isn’t a column about how bad the economy is; you can get that anywhere. Rather this is about what you’re doing to keep your head above water, or better yet, get to the deep end of the pool.

My son, Ben, is learning to swim. He’s been in the pool, keeping his head above water for years using swimmers and doing a convoluted kicking-thrashing around movement.

This year he decided he wanted to swim in the deep end of the pool and he realized that doing the same motions wasn’t going to work. We taught him to swim but he doesn’t do it the way I do it. He needs goggles and he swims underwater. Now he’s learning to float on his back, still wearing goggles. It works for him.

It’s sort of like this paraphrased quote that’s been attributed to Albert Einstein, “Insanity is doing something the same way over and over and expecting different results.”

It’s the same way in business. If you want to quit treading water and venture into the deep end of the pool, you need to make some adjustments.

Not getting the same bang for your buck from newspaper ads? Look to the Web. Online marketing, viral marketing — these are the new frontiers. This is where your customer is getting their information; you need to be there.

Are customers wandering through your store or showroom with a glazed look on their face? Mix things up — give them something, anything, to get excited about: innovative product, colors that pop, design inspiration, etc.

What are you doing that’s truly amazing? Email me, lcasinger@reedbusiness.com.