The One-Armed Basketball Player

When I was a kid, we used to play basketball all the time.  Every day, after school we would be out there, playing until well after sun-down.  There was a kid named Robert who was a few years younger than us.  He was pretty fast and you could tell he was going to be a great athlete when he got older.  Of course, us older kids beat him up pretty good under the hoop.   Robert was fast, but he could only go to his right.   After a while, we figured out that if we pressed him left, he couldn't do anything, thereby neutralizing his speed.  One day, Robert was out goofing around with some of his friends and broke his right arm.  For two weeks, we didn't see Robert at all.  Then one day, his Mom dragged him down to the court and told him she was tired of him hanging around the house.  "Please get out here and play with your friends."  Robert was tenuous for the next week, just sitting on the sideline and moping.  Finally, he couldn't resist getting in the game.  Now, he only had a left hand.  At first, we took it easy on him, because we knew he was right-handed.  We would usually wrap up around 8:30-9, but Robert was still there, shooting.  The next day we came back and he was always there first.  Robert was determined to strengthen his left hand, something he never used.  After about a month, Robert could move left pretty well.  After another 2 weeks, he was shooting better with his left hand then he ever did with his right.  Then the cast came off.  Now, Robert was dangerous.  He could move left or right with equal speed and power.  He developed a sweet cross-over dribble that left you hanging onto your shorts.  In time, Robert was starting for the school basketball team and ended up being one of the best athletes the school had ever seen.

What does this have to do with marketing?  EVERYTHING.  We use one channel too much.  We rely too heavily on email at the expense of social media, text, RSS, direct mail, offline.  As marketers, if we can develop left and right channels, we can be more effective.  One channel is too predictable and ineffective.  Multiple channels will help you win many times over.