Thanks to Kate Bush, August 5, 1985 for the inspiration…

Sometimes the most obvious analogies are the best ones. Sometimes it’s just good to be reminded of where you’re heading. I had a great reminder last night, which I wanted to share.

I run two or three times a week – and one of the routes I take goes over a motorway bridge. It was actually hot last night – summer has finally reached the UK and as it was towards the end of the run, I’ve got to be honest and say I struggled up it.

The noise at the top was deafening as always – as cars raced out of and into London.

It got me thinking.

• I’ve been in this online game now for nearly two years now in various guises and it’s hard getting up that hill.
• I’ve got to be honest and say it would have been very easy to start walking up it instead of continuing to run. It’s a mistake many people make in the online game… giving up or slowing down isn’t an option if you want to succeed.
• I’ve seen from experience plenty of people who have reached the top of this bridge (I haven’t yet), and I can tell you that running down it is pretty easy. The key is to get to the top and that’s where the hard work is.
• The people who’ve been in the game for years are saying that it’s never been easier to research your market and know where the traffic is heading. Tools like this are the key to that.
• Capturing this traffic however seems to be harder than ever.
• Persuading people your ‘stuff’ is valuable and worth pulling by to watch, listen to or read is really hard.
• If you can set out your stall well, optimise properly and get some traction those cars do start to pull off that motorway and others will follow.
• Getting noticed in business is therefore more critical than ever, otherwise you are going to constantly be missing the stream of potential traffic which flows past your company every day.

What are you doing to get yourself noticed? Some great case studies coming on this site over the coming weeks to help…