Going back to basics.

Hi there - Jen here!

A few weeks ago the famous Olympia bodybuilding competition was held, and as I saw the headlines about the winners, I was struck by how similar bodybuilding is to business… 

Let me explain.

(Just a heads up - this post references dieting and body image, so feel free to skip if those are sensitive topics for you.) 

If you’re not familiar with how professional bodybuilders create their incredible physiques, here’s a crash course:

Bodybuilders basically have two phases they alternate between to build more muscle, then lose fat so that muscle becomes visible: Bulking and Cutting.

Bulking is when they increase their calories and lift really heavy weights in the gym. The goal isn’t to look good, it’s to put on muscle (and some body fat usually comes on with it).  

Cutting is when they cut down their calories and add in a lot of cardio (like running or walking). The goal is to keep the muscle they’ve put on, but get rid of the fat surrounding the muscle so they get that ripped look for their competitions. 

Bodybuilders have to focus on different objectives at different times, to get the body they want. 

If they only cut or only bulked, they wouldn’t ever get the shredded but muscular look the sport demands - they’d either have really low body fat with very little muscle, or have lots of muscle hidden under body fat.

Businesses are a lot like bodybuilders in that sense:

They can go through cycles of:

• Business “Cutting”: When they get rid of marketing campaigns, products, and features that aren’t working to reveal only the best performing projects - aka the “muscle” of the business

• Business “Bulking”: When they try a bunch of new approaches to see what works: they add more and more campaigns, products, and features to try and capture customers

The problem? Too many businesses only bulk.

They forget about the Cutting Phase.

So many of the clients that I work with - from startups, scale-ups, to Fortune 500 brands - really struggle with this metaphorical Cutting Phase. 

They only reduce, remove, or stop things if they’re forced to.

So they end up with bloated, overcomplicated marketing, products, and customer experiences. 

But their business becomes MUCH more effective when they make time to identify and cut the things that aren’t working anymore… 

So they can focus all their time and money on the things that ARE working.

Saving time, money, headaches, and people’s jobs in the process. 

We do this in the Choice Hacking Pro Membership with the Painful Simplicity Method. 

Why do I call it that?

Because it’s not natural to cut things out of your business - even things that are confusing, over complicated, or just plain not working.

It can be psychologically painful because of principles like the Sunk Cost Fallacy and the IKEA Effect.

But it’s also an incredibly valuable exercise for your business to subtract and simplify.

Research* says: 

• Simplicity drives recommendations: 64% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand because of a simple experience.

• Simplicity drives growth: Since 2009, a stock portfolio made up of the simplest publicly traded brands has outperformed the market by 686%.

• Simplicity drives sales: 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for uncomplicated experiences. *Siegel+Gale Simplicity Index

But when we think of ways to solve a problem, it’s almost always additive, not subtractive. 

In the Choice Hacking Pro Membership, we think a little differently. 

Yes, we love to create new ways to communicate with and serve our buyers.

But we also follow a process to simplify and subtract the stuff that doesn’t work.

And that helps us on the journey to make our marketing 2x more effective (so our sales and profit can 2x, too).

Until next time, 

Jen