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Ever notice how Band-Aids are kinda magical? Put one on a skinned knee, and you can watch a kid go from meltdown to playground in about 5 seconds flat. The funny thing is, kids aren’t the only ones who feel better when they get a Band-Aid. Your customers need one too (even if they won’t admit it). Here’s why…

Video Transcript and Relevant Links

So I was just talking to my friend Ryan Levesque, and we were talking about Band-Aids. 

So we both have children, mine are a lot older than Ryan's, but when you have a child and they fall down and they skin their knee, they get their inevitable skinned knee, then one of the most important things is first of all, your reaction. 

Like if you panic, they're going to panic. But if you get past that first reaction, and say they actually have skinned their knee, maybe there's a little bit of blood there, not a huge catastrophic injury, but what's the one thing they're going to want? Most kids will want a Band-Aid, and you as a parent, the best thing you can do is go get a Band-Aid, and put a Band-Aid on that skinned knee. And miraculously, a lot of times this will help your child calm down.

Now you and I know that if you have an abrasion or a cut on your knee, putting a Band-Aid on it doesn't take away any of the pain. It doesn't heal the wound –  it doesn't make it better. But for children when they're young, you're doing something for them, and that, for whatever reason, that gives them comfort, and that takes them out of that panic mode.

So we're walking around in businesses and we are offering solutions to our clients and our prospects. And a lot of times they're looking for a Band-Aid.  They're not looking for the real fix, they're not looking for the cure, they're looking for one boom, quick thing. 

You can see this a lot.  A lot of times one of the most common questions I get is, “Jeff, if you were starting all over again, what would you do?” Or, “Jeff, what's the one secret to success? What's the secret to success in business? What was your one secret?” And the reality is that there wasn't one secret. You know, it's like I showed up and I worked really hard for more than 20 years, that was the secret. But people are looking for that Band-Aid.

So I want you to think about this on two different levels… 

First of all, when you're selling in your market, even though I know you, the people watching this, you're going to want to actually help people, you're going to want to solve the problems in their lives, you really want to make their lives better. So you're going to want to offer the real cure, the real solution. And oftentimes that real cure or that real solution is a lot harder to swallow. It's a lot more work, it takes more time, it takes more effort than a simple Band-Aid.

So if you are in this business of whatever business, whatever you want to call it, I like to call it the wisdom business. You can call it the information business, the experts business, the knowledge business. But if you're in the business of helping people, either through coaching or training or teaching, people are going to want to buy that Band-Aid. But I think that ethically we need to sell solutions, but you have to package it up like a Band-Aid. You have to offer the Band-Aid, at least as you're getting to know people, as they're coming to your website and they're starting to consume your content and they're opting into your page. You have to offer some type of a Band-Aid before you can actually offer the cure or the solution. That's just reality. So that's number one.

Then the number two level I want you to think about is, in what area in your life are you just looking for Band-Aids? Where you're not digging deep, where you're not going deep, where you're not going after a mastery, where you're looking for the quick hack. Where you're looking for the quick Band-Aid, the thing that's going to make you feel better. Maybe you're even hiding behind that Band-Aid. Maybe you're thinking, if I can just find this one Band-Aid, then my life's going to be perfect, my business is going to take off, it's going to explode, I'm going to make a million dollars. So where in your life are you just looking for that quick Band-Aid? Are you bouncing around YouTube just looking for a quick Band-Aid? Are you just tuned in to the latest Instagram or the latest Facebook Live looking for that Band-Aid, or are you buckled down looking for the real cure? Looking for the real mastery, looking for the real strategy that's going to work for you and your business?

So Band-Aids, they're an interesting thing. They can help calm that fear, they can help calm that short-term terror in your child, so they're a great tool for that. But you don't want to rely on that, you don't want to spend your time looking for Band-Aids.  Spend your time looking for cures. 

I'm Jeff Walker. Wherever you're watching this, scroll down, leave a comment for me, and let's go get ‘em this week.​

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21 Replies to “Band-Aids and Your Business”

  1. Thank you. What software or system do you use to host your weekly posts?

  2. Great message… couldn’t help but think of the old Jim Rohn admonition: “Don’t wish it was easier wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge wish for more wisdom.”

    And sometimes…. we just want a bandaid!

  3. Mercedes Pelaez

    Reply

    This is true Jeff. It is a process–slow and steady. I’m thinking the “Band-Aid” metaphor maybe the funny thing ever you invented to relate in Business. Many thanks

  4. Jorge Antelo

    Reply

    So True Jeff!! And since we all sometimes are looking for a bandaid, if you really want to help, sell them what they want (bandaid) and give them what they need ( surgery )

  5. I really love this analogy! Before even watching the video I began thinking about the bandaids my market seeks out. It’s another way to think about lead magnets! Thanks Jeff!

  6. I love this! I’m a psychotherapist and I’ve had clients come in and say, “I want a magic wand! Tell me what to do.” The point you make is good. I bandaid is a start, but the solution requiring work and time is the real thing that has to happen. Therapy is sometimes moving someone from the desire for a quick fix to embracing the longer term work and feeling good about it. Thanks for this post!

  7. Thank you for sharing Jeff. This was a great post! 3 years ago I started looking for a bandaid for my business, and now herw I am with a cure for myself and others.

  8. Jeff,
    Your levels 1 and 2 of thinking about BandAid made me think of the advice “Sell them what they want and then give them what they need.”
    Kind regards,
    Karel van Zanten

  9. Impeccable timing, Jeff! I’m in my second year, still struggling to pay the bills, and I really want a bandaid!
    Thanks for reminding me that putting in the work is the real cure. Now if I can just figure out that magic formula…

  10. Love this perspective! YouTube cat videos = Band Aids 🤛🏻 They will not help my grow my business. I hear you. I believe you’re right. Again.

    Hugs & gratitude from Norway 🇳🇴

  11. Barbara Rosson

    Reply

    Awesome, Jeff. Good thoughts. Sell ’em what they want (a band-aid), give ’em what they need (a real cure)…

  12. Very well articulated. Great wisdom.

    I have applied the same logic to two of my businesses.

    Cheers, Boaz

  13. Thanks Jeff! Very timely. I’m developing a new program and need to find a “band aid” to offer during my presentation so they get something right away, before they buy the real solution.

  14. Hi Jeff. This information is absolutely GOLD. You are SO right about bandaids, and, yes, as a PLF student and coaching student of Ryan’s for the last 2 years, I’m very familiar with his analogy.

    The concept seems so basic in terms of offering a ‘bandaid’ to your customers first to get them interested and then offer them the ‘cure’. But so many entrepreneurs are too close to their product, They don’t see the need for a ‘bandaid’ first.

    I think our health care system has conditioned us to expect a pill to solve every problem. While a pill may temporarily help with a symptom, the only way to truly fix the problem is to find the root cause and then embark on the journey necessary to find and eliminate that cause.

    Business is the same (and I’m in the functional oral health space, so I see it from both sides). The customer wants a ‘magic pill’ to make 6-figures in 6 months, Offer them the ‘pill’ to get to the first milestone and then get them used to the idea that the ‘cure’ – the outcome they want – is a journey and map out that journey for them in detail.

    For business owners, the reality is the only thing that creates true, long lasting success is the hard work necessary to keep learning and improving everything about your business. I don’t care how long you have been in business, if you stop learning and growing and adapting, your business will stagnate and die. You know this.

  15. Thank you, Jeff. Great reminder to dig deeper and to offer clients great value and depth in the wisdom we provide our clients. Appreciate it. Best – Casey

  16. Dudu Nyamane

    Reply

    Absolutely brilliant Jeff! I find that band-aid works miracles in settling the mind in preparation for the real therapeutic process. Those first minutes and hours can make or break for a traumatised client.

  17. Very true indeed.. but one needs to rewrite the subconscious mind otherwise it dominates you and you keep repeating the same error..
    Dr Sarper Diler

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