The 5 Laws Of Growth For 2016 - Part 1 #agencypublisher

Growth is the toughest challenge for business. It's hard to prepare for, and hard to achieve. But there are some basic principles that apply when any business is attempting growth, and they don't just focus on sales transactions as a growth driver. In Part 1, of The 5 Laws Of Growth, I'm going to explore the first 2 of these principles:

        #1  Engage the power of creativity

        #2  Be as famous as possible

Creativity is probably the most contentious term in marketing. It's a force for creating new connections, requiring flexibility, fluency and originality of thinking, as well as an openness to risk. It is not enough to just imagine ideas, either. You have to turn them in to reality. And when you facilitate that creativity, you can create an unfair advantage in business. That's what gives creativity its 'unreasonable power'; it tilts the playing field in your favour, enabling growth at the expense of competitors.

Creativity the legal stimulant; a natural buzz for business!

Ah, fame! Andy Warhol said we'd all get our fifteen minutes. However, he lived before the age of social media. Here in the Attention Economy, we're considered to attract just fifteen seconds of fame. 

But I think this is a bit cynical. We might attract fifteen seconds of laughter for doing something stupid, or fifteen minutes of outrage for telling a bad joke. But that's not fame. That's notoriety. Fame is different. Fame is something that comes from a solid record of interactions with people and audiences. It takes a long time to establish, and more often than not, it is a mantle worn with humility.

Growth from fame comes from establishing a reputation for something that people value, and that can be anything from quality and integrity, to frivolity and fun

That's why celebrity is quite different from fame, too. You might find celebrities who are famous, but they are famous because they have a track record of connecting with audiences through concepts, characters and achievements that audiences consider valuable.    

Growth from fame comes from establishing a reputation for something that people value, and that can be anything from quality and integrity, to frivolity and fun. As a business, if you can be famous, you can lead a community who share your interests, your values, your goals. It's not just being seen, fame involves being respected.

Growth is a marathon. Sales will be a product of a good growth plan, however a growth strategy isn't just focused on sales, but rather on how you do business. Creativity, fame, relevance, innovation investment and the capacity for demonstrating long and short term strategic thinking are the best ingredients for growth.

Part 2, of The 5 Laws of Growth, will explore the next 3 principles:

          #3 - Be as relevant as possible, to as many people as possible

          #4 - Invest to grow

          #5 - Take a long and short-term view of growth

Let me know with a short comment (below) what you think of Part 1 - then jump straight to Part 2 here...