Golden Rule #20
A smart marketer never reinvents the wheel.
Wow, this rule started out by saying ‘don’t be too original or different in your ideas’. That is a little drastic. The main point is really to not waste too much effort relearning those lessons learnt by others, or put another way learn from the efforts (and mistakes) of others.
There is a lot to be said for this. Though there is same value is learning the hard way, you should look out for those times when you could gain by skipping over the shaky first steps and building on what someone else has done.
The truth is we have become very accustomed to doing just this. When writing letters we don’t sit and try to start from scratch every single time - we use templates already created that will fit what we need. We use maps that someone else worked out for us so we don’t have to guess how to get where we’re going.
Try doing it in other areas. Starting a business? Get advice from someone who has been through it. Then go right ahead and apply your own original and different spin on things.
