When it rains you see worms come out. They’re everywhere. Theories on why worms come out during rain include looking for a more oxygen rich environment, moving out of more acidic soil (caused by the rain fall), and taking the opportunity of a moisture above ground to move from an overpopulated area. Despite being proven wrong about my original thought that they drown in the water the idea that they react to the rain and move still stands.

On a rainy morning last week I saw this worm about seven feet up one of our walls. For a worm, that’s a pretty fast reaction. The only problem is that as soon as the sun comes out he/she/it will dry up and die. Since worms don’t carry iPhones with constant weather updates they can’t plan their movement based on environmental shifts. They have to react. They either stay in a possibly hostile environment or crawl as fast as possible and hope they get back to soil before they dry up and die.

As a business that’s not the case. You don’t have to react to everything, but I see far too many marketing ‘plans’ that are based on hastily reacting instead proactive planning. If you plan you can lead. If you react your results will at best be a mediocre copy of the leader.

Have you put together a long term proactive marketing plan based on your unique business and unique set of customers? Have you taken the time to uncover your business’ story? Have you worked to learn everything possible about your current and potential customers? Have you worked to actively engage your audience in a way that is meaningful to them? Don’t be a dead worm. Plan and lead.

Don’t worry. If you don’t know where to start we put together a free guide. You can view it at dontworry.page-8.com and request a free physical copy if you prefer that.