This week, two potentially exciting things… didn’t happen.

Well, technically one of them did.

The solar eclipse happened.

We just couldn’t really enjoy it properly because, apparently, every solar eclipse glasses supplier in Britain had been stripped bare by people who had done something we hadn’t…

…planned ahead.

Could we have got some?

Absolutely.

If we’d ordered them even a couple of days earlier.

But no.

We were last minute.

Then came the meteor shower.

Fantastic.

Middle of the night.

Drive somewhere darker.

Look up at the sky.

Stars everywhere.

Meteors?

Nope.

Not one.

And again, I couldn’t help thinking we had probably approached the whole thing with a little too much optimism and not quite enough preparation.

Which is a bit annoying because both events were entirely predictable.

We knew when the eclipse was happening.

We knew when the meteor shower was happening.

The opportunity wasn’t hidden.

We just didn’t prepare properly for it.

And there are a lot of marketing opportunities that work exactly the same way.

Black Friday.

Christmas.

New Year.

Valentine’s Day.

World Health Day.

A launch date.

An anniversary.

A local event.

Whatever is relevant to your business.

Most of these dates are not exactly sneaking up on us.

Yet every year, businesses suddenly notice one of them about three days beforehand and think:

“Quick! We should do something!”

Then they scramble together an email, throw up a post and hope the opportunity somehow takes care of itself.

Sometimes it works.

Mostly it feels a bit like standing in a dark field staring at the sky and wondering where the meteors are.

The opportunity may be real.

But the preparation matters.

Which is why I’m increasingly convinced that one of the most useful marketing habits you can build is simply this:

**Work backwards from the date.**

If you know something important is happening in six weeks, don’t wait until the week itself to decide what your offer is, what content you need, what emails should go out, or what has to be built.

Start now.

Because sometimes the difference between:

“That was amazing!”

and

“Well… technically it happened”

…is just being prepared a little earlier.

Dedicated to your success!

Jason “Funnel Jedi” Economides

Jason Economides, Adam Boag and Angela Florez and Team Connecting Pieces


​**P.S.** If there’s a date, event or occasion coming up that could give your audience a genuine reason to act, put it in the calendar now and start working backwards from it. Future you may thank you.