Several weeks ago I entered a “Best Dressed Gent” contest on Facebook. Obviously, I wanted to win. I mean, who enters a contest to take last place? Well, the rules were simple. The person with the most ‘likes’ on his photo ON THE CONTEST PAGE would be declared the winner. One person, one vote. That was it. I was like, “I can do this…hit up my FB friends (cause e’rrybody loves Doc, right…?), and I should have this in the bag. I decided to check to see where the other guys were at as far as number of likes, especially since I started a day late. Just about all were reachable. But one though…one guy was waaaay out there! “Uh-oh…I’ve got my work cut out for me,” I thought. No worries. I posted the first day. Had a moderate amount of success from friends liking the pic, but not nearly what I expected. I checked the other guy’s pic. He’d picked up quite a few more and had extended his lead. That upset me. I designed a flyer/pic and posted it. Very little response. I’m like, “Hmmm…what’s going on here?” Then I noticed that my friends were ‘liking’ the wrong thing. They were liking my post, but not following the link to my picture to vote properly. So I re-wrote the directions, reposted, and waited. The following day I checked again. Once again very little voting on the actual pic. This time the problem was traced to people liking the link but not scrolling down to find my picture. The guy in first place was pulling ahead even further. I re-wrote it a third, then a fourth, and finally a fifth time trying to find the right combination of words to get people to go to the link, scroll down, find my picture, and press ‘like’. Frustration had set in with me. Why were people going to the wrong place and/or voting in the wrong area?
I attempted to correct the problem by blasting out on FB. Nothing worked. Very few people took the time to vote again. Their job was done. They were on to bigger, better things. I contacted the moderator of the contest to see what could be done. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Patterson, but to keep it as simple as possible, when the contest ends, we’re simply going to scroll down the list and see who has the most votes. Quick and easy.” I couldn’t fault her. Finally I decided to text, FB msg, email, and even call friends and say, “Dude, VOTE FOR ME!!” The last day I spent well over 6 hours promoting on FB and directing over 20 people to the site so they could vote. Friends were getting frustrated because they couldn’t find my picture (although I’d explained in great detail exactly where I was and how far down they’d have to scroll). I had asked friends to share to their wall so their friends could vote. A few did, but since their friends didn’t know me, few followed the link and voted. The guy in the lead held.
Outfit from 2011 Bill Pearl Classic MC Job
The contest ended. I had 171 or so votes. The winner had 268 or so votes. The question could be asked how he was able to garner almost a hundred more votes than me even though he had significantly less friends. Well, his significant other was a hairdresser with a huge following, and she did most of the work. He sat back and reaped the benefits. For him it was ‘easy’. For her, it was hard work. But she wanted her man to win, and win he did.
It was hard for me as well. I put a lot of work into that contest, writing, re-writing, following up on things, and constantly checking, just as you’re putting a lot of work into your contest prep. I did everything I could think of. Each day I reassessed my situation and adapted to the change. I was proactive, not reactive. For many of you, it should be the same thing. Be proactive instead of reactive in what you’re doing. Recognize quickly when something isn’t working, and make that change. It won’t guarantee victory, but it’ll definitely put you in the running.
I’ve known for quite a while that I don’t like leaving my situational outcome in other people’s hands. If something can be done, I’d much rather do it myself. That’s how I’ve approached my entire career. Don’t get me wrong, I do draw from and learn from other people, but, as like most things in life, ultimately, the decision to do always comes down to me. So it will be with you. The success you’re striving to achieve will not come easy. You will sacrifice. You will suffer. But you will reap the rewards and benefits of a job well done. To achieve this success, there’s only one simple thing you have to do. Be perfect today.
Doc
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