How to be Unnaturally Good at Marketing

Published on 6th September, 2007 by Stephen Lewis

When I was young, I had a natural talent for drawing. I did it because I enjoyed it, same as most kids, but I quickly became accustomed to being top of my year, or the top of the school.

After a few years, I reached the limits of my natural talent. The only way I could improve further was by studying drawing (instead of just doing it). At this stage, though, I was still top of my class, so I didn’t bother. Whether this was due to ignorance, arrogance, or plain laziness, I have no idea. Probably the first two.

My supposedly less gifted peers kept improving, through study and trial-and-error, and pretty soon I wasn’t top of the tree any more. And because my friends had learnt how to improve, the more time went on, the more average I became.

These days I never draw. These days, I spend a large chunk of my time doing marketing.

I don’t have a natural talent for marketing. As a result, I’ve never taken it for granted. I’ve learnt how to improve, through study and trial-and-error.

It doesn’t matter where you start your journey, as long as you keep moving in the right direction. Continue to make those incremental improvements, and pretty soon you’ll make the naturally gifted look average.