September
26
The Lazy Arse Guide to Marketing
The Beneficial Psychology of Being a Constructively Lazy Marketer: Harnessing Minimal Effort for Maximum Gain
In a world that often glorifies the “hustle culture,” the term “lazy” gets a bad rap. It’s often associated with a lack of productivity, a lack of ambition, and a lack of results. But what if we told you that being “constructively lazy” could actually be a psychological advantage in achieving your goals? The idea might sound counterintuitive but hear me out.
The psychology of constructive laziness is rooted in the principle of working smarter, not harder. It’s about maximizing returns while minimizing effort, which is an approach that both science and history endorse. From the perspective of evolutionary biology, organisms that expend less energy for the same rewards are often those that survive and thrive. Therefore, constructive laziness is not about doing nothing; it’s about doing only what’s absolutely necessary to get the desired results, freeing up time and energy for other pursuits or higher-order tasks that require more cognitive effort.
There’s an underappreciated art to finding the shortest and most effective path to achieving a goal, and the human brain is inherently wired to find it. Psychological theories such as “The Law of Least Effort,” proposed by George Zipf, suggest that human behavior naturally gravitates toward the path of least resistance. While this propensity for effort-minimization can lead to negative outcomes, when applied constructively, it can be a recipe for a balanced, successful life.
So, for those who want to make the biggest impact with the least amount of effort, here’s a streamlined guide to marketing called “The Lazy Arse Guide to Marketing.” These are the basic, high-reward activities that can yield good results with minimal time and effort.
Step 1: Know Your Audience
- Lazy Approach: Use already existing data and research done by others in your industry to gain insights into your audience.
Step 2: Create “Good Enough” Content
- Lazy Approach: Repurpose content. Use the same content in multiple ways – blog posts can become social media updates, which can then be turned into video scripts, etc.
Step 3: Automate Social Media Posts
- Lazy Approach: Use tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule posts for a whole month in a single sitting.
Step 4: Email Marketing
- Lazy Approach: Use ready-made, automated email sequences. Many platforms offer these, and you can plug them into your email marketing software to nurture leads without any ongoing effort.
Step 5: SEO Basics
- Lazy Approach: Use WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO to automatically handle the SEO basics for your blog or website. You basically get green lights when the post is SEO ready; just follow the prompts.
Step 6: Influencer Partnerships
- Lazy Approach: Rather than building your own audience from scratch, leverage someone else’s. Offer to do something beneficial for them in exchange for exposure to their audience.
Step 7: Customer Retention
- Lazy Approach: Use retargeting ads to re-engage past customers or website visitors. This is generally more effective and cheaper than targeting new people.
Step 8: Analyse What Works
- Lazy Approach: Set up Google Analytics and let it gather data for you. Check it once a month to see what’s working and do more of that. Ignore the rest.
Step 9: Repeat
- Lazy Approach: Once you find what works, keep doing it. No need to reinvent the wheel.
Bonus: Outsource
- Ultimate Lazy Approach: Once you have a handle on what needs doing, hire someone else to do it. Use platforms like Upwork or Fiverr to find freelancers who can take on tasks you’d rather not handle.
And there you have it—the “Lazy Arse Guide to Marketing.” Minimal effort for maximal gain. You’re welcome.
For me, being constructively lazy isn’t a character flaw; it’s a skill that involves efficiently allocating mental and physical resources. It is the psychology of automating tasks to make room for creativity, of setting boundaries that allow for a work-life balance, and of strategically setting goals that make the best use of one’s abilities.
By now, it should be clear that being lazy doesn’t have to be a one-way ticket to unproductivity. Quite the opposite: Constructive laziness can serve as your VIP pass to a more efficient, balanced, and fulfilling life.
In a culture that often equates busyness with significance, taking the road less laborious can feel like a rebellious act. Yet, the wisdom of working smarter rather than harder is an age-old concept, ingrained deeply into our biology and validated by modern psychology. It’s time we give ourselves permission to step off the treadmill of ceaseless toil, to realise that sprinting through life leaves little room for enjoying the journey.
So, what will you do with the extra time and energy you’ve gained by adopting a constructively lazy approach? Perhaps you’ll invest in self-care, spend more time with loved ones, or even dive into a new passion project. The possibilities are as endless as they are enticing.
Remember, life isn’t a sprint; it’s more like a marathon with scenic stops along the way. Constructive laziness enables you to enjoy those stops, take in the view, and perhaps even discover new routes that would have gone unnoticed in the blur of unrelenting hustle.
In closing, let’s redefine laziness, when wielded wisely, as a virtue. Be constructively lazy: Do less, achieve more, and live better. Your future self will thank you, and surprisingly, so will those around you who find your balanced life an inspiration for change.
Here’s to embracing the art of doing just enough and discovering the profound joys and successes that can come from it. Cheers to the good life, the constructively lazy life. Up yours Gary V. My work is done. Time for a time-out.
