Seek to Misconstrue + a
Failure: The Blog 
February 2012
January 2012
- Offensive Advertising, Increased Sales?
- I Sold Out For Millions, Then Worked At McDonald's
- Steve Jobs on Failure
- The Famous Western Failure
- Thank Goodness for Drug Addicts
December 2011
- It's a Wonderful Failure
- Stadium Destroyed, Reborn
- Failure to Trust the Astronauts
- Failure and the Baggy Pants Tradition
- Failure at The Happiest Place on Earth
- Saving What Was Lost
- FailureBank: A Social Learning Utility
November 2011
- A Thanksgiving Failure
- Harriet Tubman's Clever Lie
- The Failures of Lemieux
- Failed to Return a Text
- Admitting Failure
- A Leaders Job: Support Failure
October 2011
- [VIDEO] Mistakes with Tasty Dum Dums
- Failure and the Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Failure Goes Digital
- Using AIDS to Fight Cancer
- Victory Despite Obstacles
September 2011
Failure and Feedback
Susan Young of AimFire Marketing has been helping Indiana companies improve their public image for years. This week, she improved her own by admitting her faults and asking for help.
Here’s what Susan writes in her newsletter:
Today is my 34th birthday.
I’m feeling a little older and more out of shape than when I started my business five years ago. But I am on a mission to refresh my look — both of my own image (through some healthy eating and exercise) and of my business (through a re-vamp of my logo and website).
I’d love your feedback on how you perceive my brand/logo (how you’d change it), what marketing topics are important to you, and what you’d like to see on my new website.
On the one hand, this sounds like a terrible move. After all, shouldn’t a marketing expert know better than to admit that she’s feeling “out of shape?” Shouldn’t she do everything to imply her business is stronger and better than ever?
But chances are you don’t read these words as the sound of someone admitting defeat. Rather, Young is clearly interested in acknowledging an area of weakness and making improvements. Her message explains that there is a failure to keep up but that she’s going to address the issue.
In fact, Susan Young makes perhaps the strongest admission of failure possible: she asks for help.
Again, it’s easy to come up with reasons why this is a bad idea. Why would the marketing expert need to ask her clients and prospects for feedback? Shouldn’t she know what’s best?
But once again, we see that failure is the secret to success. By acknowledging that she wants feedback, the marketing wizard only strengthens her own position. By asking for help, she shows the greatest strength of all.
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http://www.ericmarasco.com Eric Marasco
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http://www.aimfiremarketing.com Susan Young