At any given time, things can change; they might still be perfect…or less than that.
Plans are always best laid out in advance, but while I do recommend project management processes, listing out tasks well in advance, even (when appropriate) delegating, many times things have a way of turning out differently. On the fly edits to the ideas from 2 even 3 months ago are totally fine, better if you choose to change; but if you must, well then, adapt.
In marketing, you have to go with the flow sometimes – whether the change is good or bad.
- Product might arrive late (even if you ordered it well in advance of the arrival deadline)
- Signs may have misspellings and need to be reordered and rushed, costing more of precious resources.
- The press color may have shifted and half of the run is purple, not blue. (True story, also reprinted, rushed and costs were covered by the printer.)
- A PR – let’s just call it – “issue” occurs and you have to edit and enhance the dialog focusing entirely on the newest, important concerns of your customers.
- You sell out of inventory 3 weeks before the big promotional mailer is due to hit in-home.
- The online guru approves of your product and now everyone wants it.
We do have to learn to trust the process, but things can happen spontaneously.
No matter what, there is a chance that at any given time, your plan will change and you may or may not have had anything to do with it, but you certainly have to do something about it and that is when the advance planning is more helpful than ever.
~ Dawn aka Hat Girl