A few weeks ago I went to the local state park with a couple of friends for a day of horseback riding.  When we ride there, we normally walk the trails for a while before heading to the field.  The field is expansive and inviting, and it’s where we like to speed things up.  This time, however, we went to the field first, and I silently wondered why we always rode the trail for several hours before we went to the field.

It didn’t take me long to figure out a very good reason for doing the trails before the field!  The two horses my friends were riding thought it was time to race the Kentucky Derby. They were prancing and ready to go…and in just a few minutes, my horse was ready to go with them! It took everything we — the riders — had to keep the horses from just taking off full speed.

Lesson learned.

There are times in business when we absolutely should follow the “rules” and do what is expected and normal.  And then there are times when we can buck the system and do our own thing!

Tweet: There are times in business when we should follow the “rules” and do what is expected and normal and times we shouldn’t. @StrategicVS

I’m always getting asked what is the best day and time to send an ezine.  To me, there is no answer that is right for everyone.  If the number one email marketing guru said Wednesdays at 11AM was THE time to send an ezine and everyone started sending at that day and time, then it wouldn’t be so great anymore!  Think about your own inbox.  I know if I get 5 ezines in at the same time, I delete them.  However, had I gotten them spread apart, I would have been more likely to read at least one of them.

I have a client who gets her best opens when she sends at 6AM on Saturdays.  I have another client that gets her worse opens on Saturdays.

The key to this is to test your list and figure out what works best for you.  Buck the system and don’t do what everybody else is doing!

An example of doing what others are doing is your website.  You absolutely should have an enticing free offer on there.  Doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, but it needs to be something your visitors and ideal client wants.  The opt-in box should be “above the fold”.  In other words, you don’t want your visitors to have to scroll your website to find your free offer.

This free offer should be connected to an email marketing system and a series of emails should be delivered that pertain to and add value with regards to the free offer.

This is a good time to do what others are doing… have the form and follow the norm to make it visitor-friendly.  But you should be doing your own thing when it comes to the free offer.

Sometimes bucking the system simply means stretching outside your comfort zone and finding a different and potentially more efficient way to accomplish routine tasks. Maybe it means doing something unusual with your marketing efforts to really stand out from the crowd and get noticed. In either case you won’t know if it will work or not until you try it.

What examples do you have in your business of where you bucked the system?  Or kept with the group?  Share with me in the comments below.