What looks impossible to you? Are there goals that look too hard to achieve? Marketing can help.

It was 15 years ago that adventurist Jason Lewis completed the first-ever circumnavigation of the earth using only human power. The trip had taken a total of 13 years, two months and 24 days to complete. It included mountain biking from the coast of France through Spain to get to Portugal, crossing the Atlantic using a pedal-powered boat, inline skating across the southern US, pedaling his boat from California to Hawaii, hiking across the Aloha State before pedaling his boat to Australia. He then biked across the Outback and put his pedal boat back into the water to land in Indonesia. He then kayaked his way through the island nation until he landed in Singapore. From there, he biked across southern Asia to India. Again, he set out to sea, landing on the east coast of Africa. He started biking again (at times without the permission of the governing authorities) and cycled through the middle east and Europe. On October 6, 2007, he returned to London, where he first started his trip.

You may be thinking, why did it take so long to do one lap around the earth? Thirteen years seems a bit long, not that there are a lot of people doing it that you could compare Lewis to. The answer is adversity. You see, Lewis did not just start from point A and go unhampered around the earth to the same start/finish line. There were problems along the way. For instance, he was attacked by a crocodile in Australia. He had malaria twice. He was hit by a car in Colorado and broke both legs. He also endured times when his team had to be reassembled. His first teammate who helped him peddle across the Atlantic also crossed the U.S. and sailed with Lewis to Hawaii, but then stopped. He had to find a new partner to sail the rest of the Pacific. There were times when funding ran out and the journey had to stop to replenish their resources. Lewis had a goal, but he had to maneuver around the obstacles to see his mission through to completion. That’s why it took 13 years.

Right now, many businesses are setting goals for next year. You may have come upon some adverse times. You may not be able to hire enough people or you may have some concerns about the downturn in the economy. Your marketing plans should reflect these goals and help form a path to meet them. However, marketing can help you with the unexpected. It can help you get through adversity. How so? Marketing goes beyond just advertising your brand products and services. I am a big believer that marketing touches nearly every aspect of your business. So the culture in your business needs to be promoted through your marketing so new employees are drawn to you. So does the value you place on your customers so they have a positive image of your business. When you see an area of your business begin to wane, you need to adjust your marketing to bolster it. Don’t give up on your goals, find a way around the problem.

There is nothing wrong with building adjustments into your marketing plans. Adjustments and adversity are a part of life - especially when trying to achieve a big goal. You should be measuring the success of your marketing progress periodically throughout the year. You should also be reading what is happening with your target market and anticipating problems. Are your marketing plans allowing you margin to circumnavigate problems? Built-in marketing plan adjustments are essential when you want to achieve big goals.

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Photo of Jason Lewis in his peddle-powered boat Moksha: by Tammie6123