What the Story of Bobby Leach Can Teach You About Marketing

In 1911, Bobby Leach went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. On purpose.

He broke a few bones and spent a few months in the hospital.

But that was OK with him. He survived…

…and then he cashed in on his fame.

He wasn’t the first person to survive that fall. A woman named Annie Taylor owned that claim-to-fame. She purposely fell over the falls a few months before Bobby.

Annie made a few bucks speaking about her adventure, but never built a money-making publicity machine.

Bobby, on the other hand, traveled the world, exhibited the barrel, posed for pictures and boasted, “Anything Annie can do, I can do better.“

A few years after the big fall, Bobby brought his publicity tour to New Zealand.

While there, he slipped on an orange peel and injured his leg. The leg got infected. Gangrene set in. Amputation followed. Complications ensued. Bobby died two months later.

Ouch!

Bobby learned the hard way: If you make your living by falling, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Same is true if you’re marketing a business.

What worked for you yesterday, may injure, or even kill, your business today.

That’s why testing, tracking and tweaking are critical marketing practices.

I’ve been reading and writing marketing advice for more than 20 years.

A lot of the stuff I read?—?and wrote?—?doesn’t work as well as it once did. (I even purge content periodically from my blog if the advice is out-of-date).

I know what’s working because I measure results. I know if something worked better a few years ago than it works now.

Sure, if choosing between options, you may start with something that has worked in the past.

But remember: “No guarantee.”

Pay attention. Test and track to assess what works. Tweak to improve results.

Whatever you do, don’t sit on your laurels…

…and watch out for orange peels.

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