Tactics vs Strategy with James Schramko

Schramko: James Schramko here.

Firestone: We want to talk to you today about tactic…

Schramko: Do you want to put your surname in?

Firestone: Firestone.

Schramko: Ezra Firestone and James Schramko.

Firestone: Very good. I did a little kind of hand gesture there, too, to
kind of… It was deliberate.

Schramko: Ezra Firestone. James Schramko. Look at us.

Firestone: Tactics versus strategy, you know, so many people are so
focused on tactics. They want to know the one little trick or the one
little tip that’s going to help them rank, that’s going to help them
convert, that’s going to help them get customers, that’s going to help grow
their business. Yet it turns out that tactics are just kind of smoke and
mirrors. They’re not really valuable.

Schramko: Yes. Tactics are just a little bit, and there’s no point. It’s
pointless, actually, if your strategy is all wrong. One thing we do when
we look at our business, or when we look at other people’s business, which
both of us do because we each have coaching programs, is we have a look at,
one, are we trying to do this at all? What is the point here? We’re here
and trying to get to there, in fact we should do this for the audience. If
you’re here and trying to get to there, there will be little steps along
the way. The steps are the little tactical things, but the here to there
is the overarching strategy.

Firestone: We shouldn’t say that tactics aren’t important.

Schramko: They are part of the deal.

Firestone: They’re part of the game.

Schramko: But tips, tricks or whatever, that is not enough on their own
because it can take you all around the block.

Firestone: That’s right. So really, when you’re thinking about building
an e-commerce business, starting a services business, becoming an
information marketer, it doesn’t really matter what your business is going
to be. Step one is to figure out where you want to go. What is the end
result you are looking for? This is a metaphor that you do a lot. What’s
the end result you’re looking for? Where are you now? What are those
steps that you can plot along the…

Schramko: We’ll do a little version. If you’re here and you want to get
to there, there will be little steps. So the metaphor that I use is the
train tracks.

Firestone: That’s right.

Schramko: You’re at Grand Central Station and you want to get to here, so
you lay the tracks and then you do the tactical part, like putting the coal
in, it’s an old train, not a new train. You get off at the station, go to
the bathroom, get some food and then you get back on. So now you know when
someone is saying, “Hey, go over here” or “Do this”, you say, “I don’t
care. I know where I’m going. I’m going to this station here and I’m on
the train.”

Firestone: That’s another reason tactics hurt is because they’re shiny.
They’re that new shiny.

trong>Schramko: Oo shiny, that’s like a BSO.

Firestone: I meant new shiny. I don’t know what a BSO is.

Schramko: Oo, isn’t that shiny?

Firestone: You know what they do is they divert your attention. It’s so
easy to just get sucked away into some strategy or tactic and lose focus on
that narrow path that you’ve set for yourself. What ends up happening is
when you put your attention on one thing and you really focus on that thing
and you keep going in that direction, you get really far. The difference
between a shotgun and…

Schramko: Did you make that pot plant over there?

Firestone: The what?

Schramko: I was just distracting you, see?

Firestone: That was good.

Schramko: That was like a trick.

Firestone: That was so good.

Schramko: I just took him off track.

Firestone: Think about the shock.

Schramko: Now what does he do? He goes, “Well where was I on my track?’
And he’s…

Firestone: Got to come back, and it takes awhile to figure out where you
were to get stuff back into it. Like when people are shooting and trying
to shoot bottles, like marksmen. What are those guys called that shoot
people from long distances?

Schramko: Assassins?

Firestone: Snipers. When snipers are shooting at people, they’re not
shooting with a shotgun, right? Because you’re not going to hit someone.

Schramko: Well unless they’re in combat. You have to keep it tight.

Firestone: Keep it tight. Man, I don’t know. You don’t want to…

Schramko: Shoot with your rifle and get the laser scope and pick your
target a long way off. Then the tactics are to put the bullet in the
chamber. You could be calling it, saying, “Wind five degrees to the left.
Up two degrees.” Then the “pull the trigger” tactic and the target is hit.
Done deal.

Firestone: The funny thing about tactics is it is likely you already know
all of the ones that you need to have the success you want to have.

Schramko: You know more than you need. You’ve got to get some stuff off
the bookshelf.

Firestone: Keep that bookshelf here. The truth of the matter is that you
don’t really new tactics. The old ones work just fine. What you already
know is enough to get you where you want to go. You just have to trust in
yourself and go for it.

Schramko: Yes. You know too much. If you knew less, you’d get there
quicker. If you were trying to sell software and you didn’t know how to
program, you’d get there quicker because you’re not getting off the train,
dicking around trying to do code.

Firestone: Let’s take a look at one of the big developments for us this
weekend. We’ve had a few big developments, but one of them is that I’m
getting rid of a whole side of my business.

Schramko: Get back in the shot.

Firestone: Is it back, over here. Was I… All right, whatever then.

Schramko: Yeah, you were off camera. You’ve got big movements

Firestone: I’m sorry about that.

Schramko: You’ve got big, big movements.

Firestone: I am huge, I’m just… Not like that. Get your mind out of the
gutter.

Schramko: That’s dirty man.

Firestone: My mind went there, too.

Schramko: I don’t want to go to explicit [inaudible 00:04:46].

Firestone: I don’t know, that was a development.

Schramko: Big developments.

Firestone: Big development. I’m actually getting rid of a big part of my
business. I’m focusing on just the part of that side of my business that
I’m really good at and I’m going to see exponential growth because of it.

Schramko: I’m focusing on the part of business that I’m really excited
about and we’re really good at. When we talk about it together we are hot-
diggety-damn or something to that effect.

Firestone: Hot-diggety-dog?

Schramko: Something like that. It turns out, we can both do the same
thing and it works out really well for both of us.

Firestone: Yes. So focus is the key here. Strategy, it’s sort of like
the big picture view.

Schramko: Why you’re doing it, what are you doing, how you’re going to do
it. The little stuff is less important. The big stuff is be happy when
you get to your destination.

Firestone: Plan for success.

Schramko: Some people don’t have a destination and they are always
unhappy. If you set your destination and you get there…

Firestone: Celebrate that. A lot of people graduate from college and are
miserable because they’ve spent all this time working towards this goal,
but they haven’t really thought about what they’re going to do after
they’ve achieved that. Then they go into a bit of a depression. It’s sort
of a common thing that happens, post success depression. Plan for when you
succeed, because you will, particularly if you’re hanging out with us,
which we’d like you to continue to do. Ezra Firestone here.

Schramko: James Schramko.

Firestone: Thanks for hanging out.

Schramko: Especially considering the quality of that video. All right.