Where do we start?
I’ve thrown a lot at you and talked physics, history, psychology, gambling, evolution, and economics—all of this to help you understand a different way of finding your Wynn-ing Ways.
When I’m overwhelmed, I always go to the vital few.
Recently, we had to use this with our family business. I won’t go into all the details, but it is 102 years old, and some things haven’t changed since the first owner.
I came in to improve the performance of the business and wanted to change momentum quickly, so I focused on understanding the vital few—the things we sold that made the most money.
The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of the results come from 20% of the activity. This principle identifies the most effective part of a power-law distribution.
I talk about power-law distributions a lot in Advantage.
Why?
Because a power-law distribution defines the entire publishing market.
I digress…
Back to the vital few.
By applying the Pareto principle to itself, 20% of the 20%, we can find the vital few of the vital few and deliver more of what we want?
That would mean we only need to be focused on 4% to get 64% of the results
20% of 20% = 4%
80% of 80% = 64%
I started with the 4% of parts that deliver 64% of the results. Less than 140 produce over 60% of our revenue.
If I have them in stock, I reduce the number of lost sales.
I satisfy more customers.
If I stock them in the right places, my staff takes less time to restock.
If I price them right, I make more money.
See how getting to the essentials can have such a significant impact?
Do you know what the 4% is of your success?
As you build out your business system, what is the 4% that causes 64% of the results?
For book marketing, I would argue that it’s the launch of a good book.
Yes, there are ways to leverage that, but the results are marginal beyond the most critical regular launch of a book that delights readers.
I often hear authors say I want to level up. I’ve hit a plateau and can’t seem to break through this new ceiling.
They look for some new gambit.
I suggest it’s doing more of or a better job in the vital few.
Unsuccessful authors have difficulty believing that successful authors are doing so well by just writing books and launching them. They want to believe that there is some secret or they are scamming the system to do so well.
This again gets back to how cumulative advantage works and how it’s amplified in the market.
This week, take the time to assess your business. Maybe reach out to a fellow author and discuss the vital few of publishing.
Write to me with your ideas on the one or two things that drive funds or fans the most for you*.
When you know your vital few, focus on building suitable systems to optimize the few.
I bet it’s not making Instagram posts three times a day.
The vital few have such an enormous impact or happen so often it has the most impact.
In our home brewing business, the other 36% of sales come from 3,360 parts. Each one is important but has a much lower impact on customer satisfaction and profit—a lot of work—little impact.
As you begin to build your system, look to the vital few. Where is the leverage to funds and fans?
Cast that critical eye and understand where you can get the most from the least effort. This isn’t about being lazy—quite the opposite.
It’s about the conservation of energy and compounding advantage.
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.
Bruce Lee
Getting the most important stuff right drives results. Here’s the crazy thing the essential element for an author’s business is storytelling.
The product needs to be a good story.
The marketing needs to be a good story.
The advertising needs to be a good story.
Why do we complicate things?
Rather than looking for something different to do, look at how you’re communicating through story what your experience will be.
When wondering about good copy for an ad, ask yourself if it can be a compelling story, a piece of flash fiction that gets the potential reader to feel for your character. Use curiosity and the tools you use to get a reader to turn pages in your communications.
How are you bringing a reader into your story world and experience? Make them the center of your story world.
Distill your business to the vital few and deeply understand what you can do to optimize the few.
Then build a process that repeats that vital activity with little effort on your part. This is how you scale the vital few.
Something like creating email automation to promote read-through. Once it’s done, that large chunk of effort gets divided by every reader that goes through the process of getting a better return on your work.
Identify performance indicators. In the case of a sequence to get better read through track read through.
Finally, mark in your calendar dates to go back and review these vital few. This is where you act as the observer/optimizer, seeking improvements in the system and learning from your operations.
Remember, if the item is one of your vital few, even a tiny improvement has compounding returns. Improve that four percent, and you leverage results by 64%!
Best
Joe
PS The vital few also give you your time back. How so?
You plan to work on the vital few. If you find yourself looking to do things that you’ve not identified as the vital few, ask yourself these questions:
If not one of my vital few, then is this important and urgent?
If yes, then do it.
Is it taking time away from working on the vital few?
If yes, then DON’T do it.
If you find you have more time, don’t try and fill it with busy work. Either work on the vital few or relax and take care of yourself with some me-time.
* If you notice the past few emails, I’ve asked you to write. Sure, this helps my engagement for email, but it has an experiential purpose.
Those that write will get clarity in their ideas through writing and by emailing me, subconsciously feel a responsibility to act.
If you’re unwilling to take the time to think through how to apply these ideas to your business and see if I will give you some specific recommendations, how do you expect your business to change?