Marketing Lessons from a Child

Don't make big problems out of small problems.

As I read to my one-year-old, knowing full well the only interest he had was the colors on the page rather than the words from Dr. Seuss, I found myself getting caught up in the simplicity and even boredom of a child's book. That is, until the final sentence, which read: “Don't make big problems out of small problems.” As my child drifted off to sleep, I sat there recovering from the slap in the face that had occurred from the most simplistic of words.

As a business owner, we can tend to get caught up in every single issue that arises, making big problems out of small problems. And maybe we're not actually making problems out of them. Maybe it's the stress we allow to consume us instead.

As an agency helping other businesses, it can be even more apparent, watching something so simple turn into the most unnecessary challenge. In the story that was being read, a dog was uncomfortable in a bed too small, and another dog was uncomfortable in a bed too large. The two characters went back and forth, trying to understand why they couldn't sleep. It took a small bird, looking from the outside, to simply tell them to switch beds.

That's it. That was the whole solution.

Having a team that can look at your business the way that bird looked at those two dogs, from the outside, without the stress, without the history, without the emotional weight of every decision that got you here, changes everything. We see the swap before you do, because we're not lying in the bed that's too small.

We've watched clients come to us convinced their entire brand needed to be rebuilt, when really, one message wasn't landing with the right audience. We've watched teams lose weeks trying to solve a problem internally that an outside perspective could have named in an afternoon. Not because anyone was incapable. Because it's hard to see clearly from inside the discomfort.

So here's the marketing lesson, from a one-year-old who couldn't care less about the words on the page and a dog who just needed a different bed: most problems are smaller than they feel. The stress is often the biggest part of the problem. And sometimes, all it takes is someone outside the situation to say, simply, switch beds.

We'd love to be that voice for your business. Not because we have all the answers, but because we're not in the bed with you, and that gives us the clarity to see what might be a much simpler fix than it feels like right now.

Ashley Stidfole, Founder & Creative Director, Sandpiper Agency