Today I heard a talk by Perry Marshall about a topic dear to many marketers:
The 80/20 rule.
The basic idea is that 20% of your causes are responsible for 80% of your effects.
So 80% of the grunting at your local gym is caused by 20% of gym rats…
While just 20% of Seinfeld episodes will produce 80% of the most memorable jokes.
More seriously, if you’re doing any kind of creative or productive work, this rule says you can get more done than a romp of otters by focusing on that small part of your business where you are most valuable, and ignoring all the rest.
The underlying idea here is optimization. Of your time. Of your efforts. And of your assets. It’s an idea that’s popular with guys like Perry who have a background in engineering but have since moved into marketing.
The thing is, I also have an engineering background. And I know another optimization rule-of-thumb besides the famous 80/20 rule.
This rule comes from Donald Knuth, a legendary professor of computer science from Stanford University. Prof. Knuth had the following to say on the topic of optimization:
“We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.”
In other words…
Optimize too early, and you might end up wasting time and resources focusing on irrelevant things…
And more importantly, you might get stuck with a sub-optimal solution.
Let me give you an example of what I mean.
In my own copywriting business, I’ve had several ongoing clients over the past several years. This 20% of my clients has represented steady, well-paid work — probably 80% of my total income.
And yet, I have not focused on getting more than my usual share of work from these same clients…
And I have not gone out looking for more of the same kind of client.
That’s because I believe these particular clients — though they have been good to me so far — are not the kinds of businesses that will get the highest value out of the copy I write.
And that’s why I spend a lot of time and effort courting different clients, who at this point might be more difficult, fickle, and demanding, but present a bigger opportunity long term.
So am I saying you should ignore the 80/20 rule altogether?
Not at all. Instead, just consider whether you really need to optimize your business at this point — or simply work a bit harder.
Anyways, if you are looking for a sales copywriter and you’re wondering whether you could get a lot of value out of the kind of copy that I write, then here’s something that might help you decide: