The One Skill Required to Win Now and Always

My son and I went fishing in an oxbow lake in central Alabama. An oxbow – so called due to the shape – is formed when a river overflows its outside curve during floods, depositing lots of water into the next lower area. When the flood recedes, there’s an instant lake, with lots of fish, turtles and other creatures gaining a new address.

This one, called Crescent Lake, is prehistoric. You approach past thousands of moss-covered trees leading to a thick clan of water’s-edge Cypress, that meld into a labyrinth of ever spookier tendrils, all stirred in water the color of mushroom broth.

We snake our tiny jon boat and silent electric motor through the maze, thumping and skimming toward the body of the lake. Birds squawk the soundtrack from Jurassic Park, casting shadows twice their size as they glide overhead. If there’s a land that time forgot, this is it.

We approach one of the many lily-pad covered banks, where rings and bubbles signal enough “life” to begin a food chain that’ll hopefully end on our plates. Having gone fishless for the past hour only added to the conversation, a priority among seasoned fishermen. A few silent casts and I glance to my left, just up the bank. My eyes caught something moving.

“No way,” I thought as I bore down for a closer look. Words were coming less easily. And sure enough, there it was.

“Davis,” I said to my unsuspecting fishing mate, “that floating tree either has legs or it’s an alligator.” He wheeled around more abruptly than I expected. Quoting my manly 18-year old, “Wow. Uh. Yeah. That. Um. Okay. I think you’re right.”

Neither of us were thinking in complete sentences, yet curiosity forced me to click the throttle up a few notches to get a closer look. And indeed, there she was in her menacing splendor.

Twelve feet of gator. Ten feet of boat. And four feet (ours!) contemplating a water walk that would make our Easter Sunday complete.

As she sensed our presence, her full body locomotion deftly and un-disturbingly glided her away. It was eerie. There was hardly a ripple and no sound as 300 pounds of mildly terrifying grace got ever lower in the water. Once she stopped, all we could see were to two gold-glinted eyes, about one inch above the surface. Then, without any warning…

She disappeared. Our boat was now nearly over where she had been, then nothing. No bubbles, no ‘witness’ wake. Nothing. We looked at each other. In one move, our pleasant nature cruise turned into Jason’s Jungle, with a hockey-mask wearing reptile mere feet from us, thoroughly invisible.

Check please!

That gator has lived in Crescent Lake for a long time, as much rumored as reality. I’ve seen her just twice before in this exact same area. She was deposited there unnaturally and violently, yet – as of this spring’s sightings – deposited her own family there, with 2 smaller gators spotted in recent weeks.

Clearly, those who can adapt, thrive. 

Many of you were deposited unnaturally into an economic flood that left unkindness in its wake – adaptation not an option, but a requirement for survival. Some gasped, some panicked, others coolly went where the food was plentiful and threats few.

Some feel unnatural in today’s post-Yellow Page marketing meltdown, having over- relied on that media so long that adaptation seems more wrestle than reward.

You slink begrudgingly toward web marketing, resistant to SEO and Local Search, feeling that Social Media is an overblown and fleeting flirtation with the unnecessary. The leads don’t come because you don’t churn the water; your listing and site offer no bait that customers find alluring enough to care.

To take the analogy farther than it deserves, your marketing has become a murky backwater – with an image sure to follow – because you have not adapted.

And you know something? I don’t blame you one bit.

Times are different. Buyers are different. Information that used to come from you to buyers, is now found out about you before they ever call. Heck, non-customers can give you a thumbs-up or down, directing lead flow accordingly.

What once was a test of alphabetizing skills on Yellow Paper is now an algorithm determining your relevance and placement before an alert buyer’s eyes, barely an inch above the surface, poised to go elsewhere without notice.

Just being “found” online is a labyrinth of ever spookier tendrils, stirred in water the color of money. And as always, you can snake through the maze on your own, or hire a guide.

Survival of the Fittest in a Phone Call?

Regardless of choice, your online adaptation is required to thrive today. That’s why we scheduled 3 calls devoted to the topics to help you navigate: 1) The 2-step Lead Multiplier (saved here for Coaching Members), 2) Local Listing Dominance (coming up on May 9th for coaching members) and 3) Social Media Magnet, which is an OPEN CALL, welcome to ALL by pre-registering here.

Whether you’re a member or not (if not, click to join you silly baitfish!), I hope you’ll join us on Call #3, details at the link. Your choice to make. Either way, it’s a jungle out there.