When the Wright brothers took their first historic flight on December 17, 1903, they weren’t trying for perfection. They weren’t trying to offer great cocktail service or wireless Internet or 100 channels of TV aboard their flying machine. They just wanted the darned thing to stay up in the air for a few seconds!
And a few seconds – twelve, to be exact – was all they got. And they became famous for it.
Now imagine if they had been concerned about the extras – no, I don’t mean beverage service or comfy seats. But if they had wanted a crash-free landing, a three-hour (or three-minute!) flight, a stylish rig – they’d probably have never gone out to that sand dune in Kitty Hawk in the first place. They’d still be in the workshop, tinkering with the wheels or wing flaps.
Keep in Mind Information Marketers: Perfection is Overrated!
What Orville and Wilbur knew – and what information marketers would do well to take note of – is that perfection is overrated. In fact, it doesn’t exist. So waiting until your product is “perfect” before you release it means you have a good chance of either never releasing it at all, or delaying so long that someone else beats you to the punch and scoops your market out from under you.
Hesitant to release a product that is less than perfect? Well, Microsoft – and pretty much every other software company – does it all the time! And if “good enough” is good enough for billionaire Bill Gates, it’s good enough for you.
Of course, there is a fine balance between releasing something that’s not ready and releasing something that’s valuable but a little rough around the edges. This is where having a handful of beta testers can come in very handy. Send out your product to a group of people for their feedback, and see what they think. Ask them:
[list style=”black-check-1″]
- What’s missing?
- Can you use this product to create more value in your business or life right now?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this product?
- If you could change one thing, what would it be?
[/list]
If you get overwhelmingly positive feedback and your ratings are all in the 6-plus range, you’re good to go. If you’re getting comments like, “I couldn’t understand what you meant,” or, “I’m not sure how to use this,” or, “You need to rewrite Chapter Three,” then you’re not quite there. Take another look at what you have, make the requested changes or suggestions, and try again.
Remember, you don’t have to make it across the Atlantic in one piece; you just have to make it around the block.
