PRIORITIZING
FIGURE 1 : JIM COLLIN ' S HEDGEHOG CONCEPT
willing to give up on it when the going gets tough , which it always does . The second is that you need to be the best at it . It needs to be your core competency and something that you can do better than everyone else . The third is that it needs to drive your economic engine . Your focus needs to be profitable , or your business won ’ t succeed . At the intersection of these three things is your hedgehog concept .
If you have two of those three , it ’ s not enough . Your product and service offerings need to encompass all three of those components .
At Tulip Media Group , we had this conversation not long ago about our own company . When we looked at it , we determined that we are most passionate about helping our Client-Partners because hearing about your success brings us more joy than anything else . Our core value of Complete Client-Partner Dedication states that our Client-Partners ’ success is our success , and we live that out every day .
We know that we are the best at digital marketing . We have spent so much time , energy , and resources into making this happen , and we are best in the world at achieving results through an effective digital marketing strategy . Unlike most digital marketing agencies , we care more about leads rather than traffic and likes . We care about leads because these are real results . The number of times we make your phone ring or push a prospect to book a meeting with you is what we deem successful . We have developed our core competency around real results that have real value for you , and that ’ s what we do best .
Performing digital marketing as a service for our Client-Partners drives our economic engine . We do it very well and very efficiently , and it turns a profit for us . Our profits continue to grow , so we know our business will continue to succeed .
We ’ re passionate about helping our Client-Partners , we ’ re the best in class at measuring and optimizing leads and we translate this into a service that generates a profit . That ’ s it . That ’ s our hedgehog concept . It ’ s that simple , and that ’ s what we focus on .
IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE
Once you ’ ve determined your hedgehog concept , you need to ignore everything else . Identify any opportunities that aren ’ t aligned with your concept and separate yourself from them . This way , you can focus on what ’ s important and what will advance your impact .
A few years ago , we took our publishing experience and started publishing books . We would help our Client-Partners write , edit , and release their book as a best seller , and we were very good at it . We realized recently , however , that this wasn ’ t within our digital marketing hedgehog concept , so we decided to stop doing it . We finished up the few projects we had on the go , and we stopped publishing books .
We ’ ve since turned Client-Partners away when they were looking to publish a book because we don ’ t want to half bake that cake when we can be focusing all of our resources on making the biggest and most beautiful digital marketing cake . We ’ ve referred them instead to a company where book writing , editing , and publishing is their hedgehog concept , and we know they will do an amazing job at it for them .
Even though it made money , publishing books is not something we ’ re passionate about , and in our new digital marketing business model , it just doesn ’ t fit . In the long run , we know separating ourselves from this service will translate into greater success for our company .
I challenge you to do the same thing in your business . What are you passionate about , what are you best in the world at , and what drives your economic engine ? Do you have the courage to focus on that skill and work like crazy to ignore everything else ? I ’ m confident that you do .
When you ’ re ready to translate your hedgehog concept into a digital marketing strategy , your friends at Tulip Media Group are here to help make it happen . You can book a demo with us any time at TulipMediaGroup . com .
Andy Buyting ' s thought leadership journey started when he published his first business book in 2007 and first magazines in 2009 . Since that time , he has leveraged custom magazines and online digital content strategies to establish himself as a leading authority in content marketing and brand positioning . Through his company , Tulip Media , Andy and his team make these content marketing strategies and tools accessible to their Client-Partners .
www . TM . Media
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