How to make better decisions almost every time

I don’t care what anyone says…

Chip and Dan Heath are ****GASP**** business educators at Stanford and Duke University respectively.

And everyone on the internet who failed school (that’s me, I failed school), but a lot of internet entrepreneurs like to talk about how MBA’s and University professors have no real business knowledge, or experience, or whatever. And they like to talk about how traditional schools are dying, and there’s nothing valuable to be obtained from an academic education.

Which is total B.S.

Because both of them have significant real-world business experience beyond just academia. And together, they wrote an amazing book that will help you make better decisions in life and in business. And I recommend that you check it out.

It’s called, Decisive.

Early on they pose the question:

Why do we need a process for making better decisions? — Can’t we just acknowledge our shortcomings and make better decisions moving forward?

And it turns out, the answer is—probably not.

Because according to the Heath brothers:

“Understanding our shortcomings is not enough to fix them.”

Decision-making is complicated.

Making better ones on the path to achieving our goals is even more complicated. There are tons of past experiences, cognitive biases, fears, limiting beliefs, self-preserving beliefs, and more, all at play when it comes to decision making.

And healthy marketing is all about understanding and influencing that decision-making process for the benefit of everyone involved.

For you as a marketer or a service provider, and for your customers and clients as well.

They win-you win.

It’s about connecting to that bit of awareness in ourselves, and in others, where there’s a gap between knowing what we should be doing, and actually doing it. Or where there’s a gap between wanting things to better, and knowing how to go about achieving that.

It’s about identifying that gap, acknowledging it, and connecting it to a suitable system, process, product, solution, or service that’s going to help bridge those gaps between desire, knowledge, and action.

It’s about making change happen, and bringing people just a little bit closer to achieving their dreams, goals, and desires.

So that’s just one important bit to understand about the nature of marketing.

That it’s about influencing the decision-making process.

And I’ve been toying around with a name for this newsletter for ages now. Back in the day it was “The Natural Way” — but people often said it immediately made them think of some sort of health related brand or business.

And rightfully so.

Other ideas have come and gone without much fuss or acknowledgement, in fact, I’ve often felt it was better off not having a name at all really, just that this Kevin Hood’s newsletter, and that’s really all that matters.

Which is true…

But I’ve decided that there are plenty of “email lists” out there to be a part of.

And I want this one to be about something very specific.

So I’m officially calling it The Nature of Marketing Newsletter.

And that’s what you can expect.

To get smarter about marketing in 2 minutes day, right from the comfort of your very own inbox, as I share everything I’ve learned over the 10+ years as a self-employed entrepreneur, about the nature of marketing.

So that’s all for today.

And just a reminder that the details for the release and giveaway of my new writing guide — 15 Legendary Writing Secrets — will be announced via email on Friday morning.

So keep your eyes peeled.

Sincere best wishes,

Kevin Hood