Debbie LaChusa

Have you heard of "The Dip"? It's a book by Seth Godin, bestselling author of Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable (which is a great marketing book if you haven't read it). The Dip is about "when to quit and when to stick." I recently picked up the audio version of this book and it had some great insights that I thought I'd share. If you're an entrepreneur who has ever faced a challenge in building your business, I know you will relate to this.

In any business, or just about any endeavor, results typically follow the same curve. You get immediate results and you get excited, but after that you very often go into a "dip" and your results stagnate or fall off. Picture a dip - that's pretty much what it looks and feels like. According to Godin, The Dip is where most people quit. Things get tough, and they give up.

How many times have we heard success stories that include tall tales of everything that person had to go through before acheiving success? But how many of us quit when the going gets tough?

According to Godin, the difference between success and failure comes down to one thing: when you quit. He advocates that if you stick it out through the dip, you've got a shot at becoming the best in the world.

But he also says that sometimes you need to quit. So how do you know when to quit and hen to stick? That's what this book is all about. Bottom-line you have to consider if you have reached a dead-end, or if you are still making forward progress.

So, has your marketing plan hit a dead end, or are you just experiencing The Dip? It's a valid question. This book helped me see the answer more clearly, maybe it will help you, too.

If you want to check out The Dip, you can pick it up here.

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)