Do you ever feel like you're drawn towards complexity like a moth to a flame?
Most people are obsessed with complexity and they feed their addictions with advanced strategies and tactics but they completely miss the point.
Obsessing over the complex is like having the best silverware for a dinner party and overcooking the chicken, nobody cares about the silverware because the main thing was the food…
This happens everyday in business. I see people arguing over which software to use and which color button to have on a landing page but forgetting that the main thing is the offer.
Most of the results you will get in anything in life are derived from the basics NOT the advanced.
In today's video I explain how and give you three real life examples, check it out!
Did you like this video?
Leave me something in the comments section, I check all the comments and respond to them personally.
To Your Success!
-Sam
You are so right. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen things made so complicated it wasn’t working as it should have. Best practice theory has always been K.I.S.S.
Thanks Debi! I’m a big fan of KISS too haha.
The band? Me too…
very helpful thanks
Glad you enjoyed it Charles!
Great stuff! Took a long time for me to internalize it (after realizing that not much was happening while doing advanced stuff) – but it makes absolute sense now.
Hey Sam, Great talk on keeping it simple. I think the hardest thing to do is to filter our great content; stuff you know you should read to expand your knowledge base, but you also know that falling down the Rabbit hole of reading all this stuff will never allow you to get any real work done! read somewhere that “consumers will stay poor, whereas producers will become wealthy. Nowhere is this more true than in the ranks of the content marketers and consultants – Thanks for a great Video, see you in the 30 day Challenge!
Sam great stuff as always. I’m reading Essentialism on your recommendation and this video fits right into that. I’ve found that something simple as unsubscribing from a couple of marketing lists keeps from falling into the black hole of my inbox.
The new video style looks great too!
Spot on.
Hi Sam,
Totally agree.
I think sometimes getting lost in the details is a distraction that we subconsciously choose because if we were actually doing the work that would get results then there is the fear of failure or sometimes even the fear of success (e.g. “what if I get too many customers”).
Maybe this is too small of a topic to really cover in a video, but I would love to hear your thoughts.
Since 1:45 I have been trying to find the link to your Wibinar, after lots of Google searches and reading through emails, I have come to the realisation that it was probably fake in order to gather email addresses.
Was this your intention?
Hi Milford,
Sorry for the confusion… The webinar is on the 18th of June @ 2:00pm Pacific, that’s California time, USA.
Please go to Google and work out what time that is in your time zone.
Links will be emailed out 12 hours, 6 hours and 3 hours before the live event.
-Sam
Hi Sam,
Awesome content!! Feels like you’ve peeled right back to the 4 P’s we were taught back at Auckland Uni lol. Keep up the good work bro, look forward to learning more at your webinar.
Malo
Sam another great video thank you – have been missing these blog posts!
Any other good books you could recommend to read?
Thanks
Great post and I 100% agree and as the saying goes “keep it simple stupid”.
I was in a similar place of worrying about colours of buttons and all that other junk that indirectly would have a very small impact on conversions and etc, all the complex and in depth stuff is probably useful to test after establishing the basic fundamentals as you’ve covered in this video.
A lot of people are deluded – they allow their anxiety and insecurity to colour their expectations. How can you possibly attain a large result from merely mailing messages, from providing what is needed?
It has to be ‘technical’. Plus people can’t seem to listen, they hear something that makes complete sense, but it is as if they think something is always left out…’yes but what is the real story?’
I have to completely agree with you Sam, and your own success is a massive testament to the idea of ‘back to basics’
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Sam – you nailed it! This totally resonated with me, this subject has actually come up a lot recently in conversation between myself and my team. Im loving your perspective and input, will defiantely be back to watch *all the videos*!
I love this video. I play a sport in Australia called Kendo, a type of japanese fencing/martial art. My teachers and most highly ranked Japanese sensei who come to visit always focus on the basics again and again, the concept being that unless you cut properly, with the right spirit, with the right posture, with the right guard and the right precision you are as good as dead.
Thanks heaps mate.
I like that….as Karate Kid was instructed…wax on, waxoff!!
Best Video Yet, You couldn’t have said it any better. I believe most of my anxiety is driven from over-thinking. Focusing too much on advanced strategies and tactics for ALL KINDS OF THINGS, Not just my business, My every day life.
Thank you
You share great information! Thank you. You, Mike Ferry and Grant Cardone would be best friends cuz you share very similar philosophies across related industries. Keep up the good work! Glad I stumbled upon your website.
Hi Sam,
I just discovered you and your refreshing voice.
I found myself nodding along to your perspective.
Thought you might appreciate this:
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity” Charles Mingus
Thanks for being out there 😉
Hi Sam,
I really enjoyed this video. Hi need to get back to the basics with my health coaching business. The part you talked about with hitting the right market and perfecting your offer and charging the right price are all things I haven’t given enough thought to. My question for you is I am just starting out as a health coach and I haven’t had one client yet so I am wondering how it is that I am supposed to figure out the offer, market and price now? I would love to know your thoughts. I look up to know and really admire the success you have created in work that you love and love sharing. Take care.
Awesome point. Keep it up!
Sam, I’m your next successful follower!
Thank you for this. Simplicity is a key for inner fulfillment as well. I am wondering if you know what the best markets are and how to help clients find their niche even if they aren’t designed to niche-out.
Love it! As a volleyball coach, basics is what I stress the most. Wanna look smooth playing volleyball, learn the basics!
Hi Sam:) I can across your add on Facebook and signed up for your webinar but there was some kind of glitch and said there was an internal server error and didn’t let me attend:( so I am scrolling through your fb page watching whatever videos I can.
Great video, my wife and I have been discovering in our lives that we have to shut-out more than offers, new tech/kit etc. The hard bit is leaving PEOPLE you love to live their own lives and not ‘help’ them or get involved in their lives (and they pull for you to get involved, everyone wants saving….). Shutting out the ‘naysayers’, especially if they are close family or friends can make you feel like a right sh**t but it’s the judgements and opinions that suck the power out of you and if they won’t shift, you have to.
Also, watched your seminar last night Aus/NZ time (7:30pm). loved it. Am really considering taking you up on your 6 wk training offer (renewable energy professional). I didn’t get the slides/files etc at the end (had to leave help put the baby to sleep!). Can you send them to me so I can go through them with my wife?
Cheers,
S
I really needed to hear this today. It’s a message that NEVER goes out of style…classic simplicity. And simplicity, the ultimate business “accessory”, goes with everything – every industry, every market, every position and role, every rank, every task, the most effective communication, every goal, etc. Thanks for keeping it simple, Sam. 🙂
Im 19 and just graduated highschool im interested in becoming an entrepreneur but i want to know if you think your system will work for me?
This is perfect! I tell my clients this all the time that business does not have to be complicated. Keep it simple/ Master the basics. You can pay someone later to care about your button color 🙂
Perfect! Always looking to keep is simple, understandable and measurable.
What I am getting from a current coach is focus, focus, focus. Stick to the basics. Do not add complexity. Avoid chasing the next shiny object. You have just confirmed that advice.
Very interesting – thank you Sam
Why do you have a landline? It’s not even plugged in. And with a cellphone laying next to it?
Perhaps, your best blog. I’m an old guy, not like you. I’ve been in the game for many years and have the scar wounds, the strength of my resolve and life as proof. You’ve probably met people like me, especially those who have martial arts experience. I can’t speak for others, but years ago, when I first trained, I spent hours working on the most fundamental of moves. After several years of training, I was finally introduced to the more advanced techniques. In today’s society, to conduct this type of teaching (business model) would bankrupt the school as students (customers) want both heaven and earth at the least amount of time and effort possible. Bear in mind, those that end up fighting in the ring or acting in movies, find that their lofty goals meant not without the fundamentals or basics of good techniques. Therein lies the analogy of running a business. I’m currently in an eCommerce startup business where we are discussing the many pieces of the business plan and forecasting, asking the 300 and one “what ifs”. It dawned on me that the major pieces (accounting, operations, marketing) aren’t but a handful and should be shored up before trying, as your example, to design that perfect Logo or Icon. And your great video validated it. I sent the link to my partner. Let’s hope many more follow your advice. Thank you.
You are right, It s been so many years now I am detached from all those new stuffs people find cool and have to buy that I just take the opposite of it. I bought very few cloths, never I phone, never bought any ice cream, did not party that much spent very few money in all of that. But then with all this money and time saving allowed me to read more, to live in a house in bondi beach with a sea view, buying the best food every day, going to workshop during week end, and saving a lot of money. And all of that wile I was seing fake people all around trying to attract the abondance I had. I worked as a labour guy a this time, and now I am following your course “consulting accelerator” to help me to adopt the best strategy for achieving some dreams. I studied and I am passionate about Holistic medicine, do you think there is a niche as a digital marketing specialize into natural medicine ?? Do you think it s important to have a niche into the digital marketing also ?
Thanks Sam.
Quite wise as usual.
It does really echo with me as I am used to working with advanced tech such as 3D graphics and VR, where it’s ALL about the very latest tech.
Currently taking a much needed step back to re-evaluate all of my basics.
Sam,
As a Martial Arts instructor the issue of basic vs complex comes up all the time with students.
Each work out starts with the “basics”. They are the building blocks for all technique. Easy to over look but vitally important for growth. The inexperienced are ALWAYS enamored with the complex.
Off the mat I have heard, the KISS principle applies. Keep it simple Stupid!
Love your interpretation!
Great video!
Sam I am from NZ! love that accent aye? good to hear your story. just heard about you from FB. I am thinking my niche will be precious metals, and my targeting strategy would be men 30-60. I think gold and silver is seriously better than having your money sitting around in paper/digits due to inflation and printing of money.
I am also very poor right now and need to get started ASAP. I will be going to your webinar today. looking forward to it!
My link is ISNpreciousmetals.com/102386
Where have you been through my journey of starting my business?! LOL Finally!! Someone who gets it ~ K.I.S.S. I have been so overwhelmed with “you need to do this”, “you need to do that”, “you should have this”, “why don’t you have this”, and on and on. I was about ready to throw my hands up and cry Uncle, until I came across you on FB, via a post our local Chamber of Commerce posted. I have always been about keeping things simple and believe that less is more. You have a new fan and follower!
Thanks Sam, this is so true and I personally am easily distracted by new and shiny anythings, this has helped me refocus on what really makes the difference.
I Liked very much. starting to apply this knowledge. watching all your videos
Hi Sam,
I came across your video by accident and i was surprised and shocked the mistakes i did in my business which failed six months before though i was running very successfully for 9 years and had more than 50 employees. I was too busy to find out the advance ways to develop new business and forgot the basics which helped me to take my business from one person to more than 50 people in 3 years. Thanks again for this video and i am sure i will never forgot the basics.
Thanks,
Tarun
As the admin of this site is working, no uncertainty very soon it will
be famous, due to its quality contents.
Your message is VERY powerful. I can see this kind of problem (getting stuck with all sort of useless garbage) everywhere… Another example? I work as a teacher, in a private high school, in Brazil, and I get stunned with the HUGE amount of information we try to put into our students heads. A complete waste of efforts and time, a lack of judgement. What is the point? With our increasing ability to get information, about any given subject, at the reach of a mouse click, why vomiting tons of data into theirs heads? Why condition their aproval into our best Universities according to their capacity to vomit back such huge amounts of data? “KISS!” (Keep It Simple Stupid!) is the answer. Teaching them THE (essential) MINIMUM and giving them opportunity to learn how to get what they need, by themselves, on demand.
I think that is a business niche that could be well explored. 😉
Greetings from Brazil.