Copying Success vs. Fixing Failure

So much of our day revolves around putting out fires.

404 pages. 500 errors. High bounce landing pages. A low open rate on a marketing email. I’m going to suggest a radical solution to these problems: ignore them.

Why should you ignore them? Because sometimes fixing a failure isn’t the best use of your time. That new landing page with a 70% bounce rate, maybe you can optimize it down to 50%, but it still sucks. Maybe you can increase sales on that failing product 50%, but it still isn’t going to make a dent on your top line.

Instead, flip the coin around. Forget what isn’t working, and focus instead on what is working. The landing page with a whopping 10% conversion rate. Or maybe a breakout product that you can’t keep in-stock. Ask yourself, how can I copy these successes?

Next week, try being a copy-cat, not a problem solver. Let me know how it goes.