The 70% Principle: Why You Never Get Projects Off The Ground
Have you got eleven seconds to learn a simple principle? A principle that will radically change the way you do things?
You do, don’t you?
Ok, tick, tick, tick….here’s the principle.
It’s called..um…the 70% Principle
So what’s the 70% Principle?
If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing 70% right.
You can always come back to do the 20% later.
Yes, read it again, and no, the math isn’t wrong.
If you’re going to build a website, a 70% effort is fine.
If you’re going to do a presentation a 70% effort is fine.
If you’re going to bake a cake, for that matter…do you need all the ingredients?
The perfect cake? With all the perfecto ingredients? Or the cake with ‘70%’ of the ingredients?
The ‘perfect’ wording on a website? Or the ‘70% perfect’ wording on the website?
And nope this isn’t a case for mediocrity
No one is telling you to do crappy stuff. No one’s saying that you need to keep your project unfinished. But in the quest for perfection, most of us never start.
The 70% principle is about getting your best effort out and into the hands of your clients. That you don’t need to start off with a 100%-kaboom-wow-start.
So let’s tell you about our ‘who pushed me?’ start in 2002
We started Psychotactics,in the year 2002, with a 16 page booklet. We called it the ‘Brain Audit.’ And indeedy-doo, it started with just 16 pages. Those 16 pages, we cheekily sold for $20 or thereabouts.
And you know what?
We weren’t trying to keep the pages down to 16 pages, but we certainly weren’t trying to pad up the contents of the book either.
The 16 pages of information were all we knew at the time. And yes, we could have made it 100% perfect, but decided to put our 70% effort out anyyay.
Did I say, put it out? I meant, I got ‘pushed’
You see, I wasn’t keen to sell the Brain Audit. I wanted to get the e-book just right. But I was forced into putting it on the market.
I was forced to putting it on a sales page, by another marketer who promised to promote the book to his audience.
And he never did promote the book
I reminded him. Gently. Then became a bit of a nag. But that promotion never, ever happened. What did happen was that the ‘Brain Audit’ began to sell.
And as it turned out, I was able to add the next 20%,
and the next 20%, and the next 20%.
And yes, the math still adds up
Because all along, that ’so-called incomplete’ product was selling. And when you think about it, which product or service of yours is ever complete?
As your knowledge grows; as your customers ask more questions; as you apply the concepts in different ways, your product or service gets better all the time.
And today, the Brain Audit is a comprehensive document that not only helps you understand how the customer thinks, but is also the basis for being a member of 5000bc; for doing any of our courses like the copywriting course, product-creation course.
What started out as a ‘who pushed me?’ product, now helps us get thousands of customers. And helps us grow our business considerably from year to year.
Kinda like the iPod, you see
When the iPod came out at first, it was just 10GB (yeah, pathetic ten gigs).
Then it went up to 30GB. And hey, we got video too. Then whoopsy-doo, it was 60GB. And uppity up it keeps going, both in size, features and ease of use.
Where’s the market for the perfect iPod?
There’s no market for the perfect product or service. The product or service that your customers want, is the product or service you have now.
That 70%-perfect product/service, will do fine for your customer.
How can I be so sure?
Could this article have been at least 30% better?
Couldn’t I have found more examples? More case-studies? Put in more details, perhaps? Tweaked my words just so to make it richer, more vibrant?
Sure I could. But you’ve got the point, right?
If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing 70% right. You can always fix the 20% later.
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Next Step: Are you losing tons of potential business because you don’t know how the brain works?
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
New Product: Do you want to put some sanity into your design even though you are not a designer?
Learn how, you can immediately improve your design with some really simple tweaks.
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January 26th, 2010 at 11:21 am
I think the 20% that will fix this article will be the comments
January 26th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
[...] The 70% Principle: Why You Never Get Projects Off The Ground http://www.psychotactics.com/blog/art-70-percent =============================================== Have you got eleven seconds to learn a simple [...]
January 26th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
All I could think of was the great, mighty, powerful, all-knowing MicroSoft.
Man, to get a new release of anything from them working at 70% would be a real blessing!
Thanks for taking away one of the crutches of a self-confessed, non-producing perfectionist!
January 26th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Fantastic article. I’m gonna keep that in mind while writing an ebook.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Excellent points well made.
I have a huge problem with the desire to try to make something perfect…
But nothing can ever be perfect.
Sometimes good enough really is good enough.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
That’s exactly what is happening with all of my business related stuff. But looking at it from the 70% point of view – it doesn’t look that bad at all. I even posted a comment! Thanks!
January 26th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Boy, you got that right, Sean. I’m fine doing client work, but not my own info products. I smack into a “crisis of confidence” at the 70% mark. After working for weeks (yeah, literally — ain’t that pathetic?!) I start questioning the value of everything I’ve written. Is it correct? Is it as boring as it now seems to me? Am I just plowing old, familiar ground that everyone already knows? Will I embarrass myself? Is it worth the price (or ANY price?)
Any advice?
January 26th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
My father, who worked as an aerospace mathematician for 30 years, told me several summers ago that customers (whether internal or external) only expect an 80-percent final product. I was shocked. Why would Dad encourage his conscientious daughter to tone it down?
“Anything beyond a B+ effort merely feeds your own ego, but accomplishes little extra in return,” he said. After I firmly planted that principal in my head, I started to meet deadlines with less anxiety and more success.
When you consider the number of mediocre movies in the marketplace, certainly Hollywood chants the same mantra. Yet as consumers, we continue to purchase these less-than-perfect films while asserting that we have been adequately entertained.
Thanks for the reminder, Sean. As a recovering over-achiever, I now believe that production is generally more significant that perfection.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:40 am
@Tom: If you look at my watercolour (yes, I’ve started doing watercolours over the Christmas break) you’ll think they’re really good. I think they’re okay. I’ve been a cartoonist for many years and can hold my own, but here’s what happened yesterday. I was in the presence of a master watercolourist. And my watercolour looks like crappy stuff compared to his. Would that stop me from selling my work? No, because it’s the best I can do at this point. I will be super-duper in the future, but when I’m super-duper I’ll charge accordingly. Get the watercolours while they’re still a bargain.
So get on the infoproducts. Our first book: The Brain Audit was just 16-20 pages when we first sold it. If we’d waited, we’d never have met so many wonderful people and never sold the product. A product needs a deadline. At the point of the deadline it’s 70% ready. Then fix it later.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:40 am
@Paul: Most people do. Even now I’m tidying up a mini-book I wrote. But guess what? It’s 5:40am now. By 6am that book is done. Whatever state it’s in, it’s done.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:42 am
@Lisa: Your father was truly wise. I’m sure he battled with perfection too. Only those who battle (and overcome) perfection can make statements like that
January 27th, 2010 at 12:53 am
Very good timing for me since i’m revising a site I’ve had a Bee in my Bonnet about for years.
I have a deadline of the end of the month because I know I could spend an embarrassing amount of time on it and still be fiddling with the thing…
January 27th, 2010 at 1:31 am
Thanks for the feedback, Sean. May I send it to you for your honest feedback? (Feel free to say no.)
Congrats on your watercolors (or watercolours) too. It’s great to stretch our creative muscles.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:04 am
This is great stuff for an open-minded perfectionist to hear! There is hope for me yet.
January 27th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Sean,
You are marvelous, in all your incarnations.
This was the exact push I needed this morning. I have been absorbing information from teleseminars, blogs, articles, books, etc. to figure out how best to promote my books, blogs, coaching, etc. And, it’s even clear to me now that I don’t need to know more, but to do more, to just get my work out the door.
Perfectionism is paralyzing. It makes so much sense and cents to put your 70% best out and improve and expand as time goes on. Thanks for this clear-headed but firm push.
BTW, I love your fresh presence on Facebook with updates about your family and your activities.
Thank you.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:36 am
It’s difficult to answer your question, because I’m not sure what you’re talking about when you say “I’ll send it for honest feedback”. Is it a book? A whole product? I don’t tend to critique information, because otherwise I’d be swamped. That’s one thing. The other thing is also the structure you’ve followed. If for instance you’ve read The Brain Audit or are a 5000bc member, then you know better the kind of structure behind the whole construction of a product/salesletter/article etc. So unless I know, it would be hard to answer your question.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:27 am
@Flora I think Rich Schefren made a good point when he was promoting his constraints training program.
Too many of us focus on increasing our skills to raise our potential.
When we should be using what we already know to make more of what we’ve already got.
It’s a very valid point for those of us always looking for that little bit extra… perhaps as an excuse to procrastinate.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:12 am
Thank you for this wisdom! Just what was needed today
Years ago, I learned a term – Satisficing. It was a made-up word to describe the point at which a project/product was “good enough”. Thanks for the reminder — perfectionism can mean the difference between doing it well enough and never getting out the door.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
From the perfectionists is your audience, we thank you! It means seeing my work differently. My perspective is often that it’s not complete. This changes my perspective to-what I have started is good and it’s only going to get better. I needed to hear that. Thanks for the counseling session. Now who do I send my check to?
January 31st, 2010 at 12:53 am
Oh, no check required (as you can tell). Glad to help. Though you can write yourself a check by learning the concepts in The Brain Audit and being a part of http://www.5000bc.com
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:28 pm
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February 6th, 2010 at 3:07 am
[...] often do we fail to follow through on them though? Sometimes they even, reluctantly, get scrapped. Sticking to the 70% principle may just keep that project alive and get it done in the near future.ProBlogger: While we’re on [...]