Building your business? Be willing get your hands dirty

Most people suck at marketing.

Why? They’re too focused on the big picture—and the end result.

That’s what I call the “clouds,” and though I, too, believe deeply in them, the problem arises when marketers forget about the other half of the equation—what I call “the dirt.” The dirt consists of the skills, talent and grind that gets you to success.

Marketers who continually use old tactics often get lazy and complacent. They don’t take enough time to learn how a new app works or where the market is going. They think that just because they have honed their craft once, they’re entitled to the “clouds.”

Many marketers fail to understand that the dirt is more important—the journey is more important than your final destination. You’re only as good as your last time at bat. Your success is predicated on the dirt, which comes from two things:

1. A willing to get your hands dirty—also known as a work ethic.

2. The experience you gain from hard work.

Warning: You’re going to lose if you’re not continually working on your craft, or if you get too romantic about doing things the way they’ve “always been done.” Instead, you must be a practitioner.

A few examples

Consider what happened when Snapchat came out in 2011. Many marketers and PR pros were either afraid of it or saw zero potential for it in their established marketing strategies.

Many thought, “How could a video that’s only visible for 10 seconds compare to a television commercial or an ad in a magazine?”

Most TV ads work in exactly the same way—they show up and then disappear. Despite that, many marketers would rather pay millions in ad spending instead of investing in Snapchat content.

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Many marketers were so hung up on “everything lasting forever” that they forgot how branding works. They didn’t learn to use the app, and many missed the boat.

Become a practitioner

It’s tough to become successful at something without first becoming a practitioner. I wouldn’t dare think that I could walk into an unfamiliar industry and immediately find success.

From fashion branding to car sales, I’d probably suck at the beginning. Over a five-year period, however, I have found success because of the time I took to learn the trade.

You can’t be successful simply by saying so; you must have talent, a willingness to learn and a desire to work hard.

Love working in the dirt

I probably love dirt more than most people. I enjoy working on improving my craft, because there’s no substitute for a solid work ethic.

Consider the work ethic of Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock, for example. Even after achieving huge fame, they have continued to test out material in small clubs around the country. There’s no glory, just the craft. That’s real dirt.

If you want to become a better marketer, you must work at it. Learn and understand the up-and-coming trends. If that means downloading whatever new app is exploding on the market and mastering it, then do it.

By living in the dirt first, you’ll ultimately get to the clouds.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a CEO, entrepreneur, investor, best-selling author and speaker. A version of this article originally appeared his blog.

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