Raindrops Make a River

“Raindrops make a river” – Unknown

Let’s talk baseball for a quick second — don’t worry, this will come around to your business in few moments. In baseball, and just about any other sport for that matter, the objective is to outscore your opponent. So it probably won’t surprise you to learn that teams that score the most, win the most.

But, in baseball, there are two ways you can score. One is to hit lots of home runs. The other is to just keep hitting the ball, getting player after player on base, and moving your teammates around the bases more or less one at a time until you reach home (score).

Guess which one results in greater scoring?

If don’t follow baseball closely, you probably suspect it’s the teams that bash the most home runs who score the most.

But that’s not the case.

In practice, it’s the team who get the most hits, irrespective of the number of home runs, who score the most runs (i.e., “points” for those non-fans among you).

So, what has this got to do with your marketing? Well, it’s another demonstration of what I was talking about in my Biznology post the other day. You see, to use an old baseball phrase, “raindrops make a river.” Just like in business.

Many people I talk with are overwhelmed by all the possible things they could do. They struggle to prioritize. They chase every single latest thing, looking for another ever more elusive “home run.”

But, here’s the thing. You don’t have to crush the ball over the wall. You can build meaningful results a bit at a time. Instead of worrying about the home run (not that they’re not nice), you can continue to churn out one base hit after another, learning from your actions when things go right (or not), adjusting when they don’t, and continually moving your results forward.

Using this approach doesn’t mean you’re not trying to move the needle. It means you’re taking a deliberate approach on how to get there. Instead of chasing “the next big thing,” you’re building towards a big thing one step at a time. Among the great things about this approach: If you stumble or step off course (i.e., have an initiative that doesn’t work as well as you want), getting back on the path is much, much easier. And you build on each success to drive your overall results.

Just remember, raindrops make a river.

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: marketing, marketing best practices, measurement, metrics, strategy, success