The upland bird hunting season here in South Dakota is down to just a few short days left. My dog May and I have traveled across the Pheasant Capital of the World chasing sharptailed grouse, prairie chickens, and of course the states most popular game bird, the ring-necked pheasant. This season was May’s first as a fully realized bird dog and to watch her run the open South Dakota prairies in search of these birds has been one of the many joys in my life.
Dogs in general and even more so bird dogs, teach you so much about yourself that you would have never known. They provide happiness, pride, frustration, excitement and every emotion in between. They teach you lessons about life that you can’t learn from humans. Dogs are essentially floppy eared teachers, who are also your best friend. May has taught me many lessons throughout this hunting season and today I would like to share some of them with you and demonstrate how they can apply to your marketing.
That Didn’t Work, Let’s Try it Again
As May works her way through a field she will quarter back and forth, checking out different pockets of likely cover for birds along the way. While she has sniffed around hundreds of buffaloberry bushes (a common hangout for sharptailed grouse), it wasn’t a guarantee that we would find one there every time. That wouldn’t deter her from checking the next one more thoroughly than the last.
Things don’t work out like you plan every time but that doesn’t mean you need to give up because it didn’t go your way. If you have a great idea stick with it! Maybe it didn’t go your way the first time around but that shouldn’t stop you from trying again. Who knows maybe on the third time you try you’ll find the proverbially covey of grouse you were hoping for.
It’s Not Always Your Fault
May is a Brittany, a pointing breed originating from the Brittany region of France. She is hard wired to seek out birds and point (stop a short distance from the bird with her nose towards the bird, typically with one paw off the ground) them for me to then flush and shoot. May has had an excellent season locking birds in on point. I on the other hand have had a below average season when it comes to my end of the bargain.
Sometimes you can do everything right and your human still misses an easy shot. This the case with marketing as well. Sometimes you can do everything as perfect as possible and for reasons outside of your control things just won’t click. Unfortunately it happens, it sucks but it happens. The best thing you can do is know that you did everything you could, go out and find another bird and hope your human shoots straighter the next time.
A Field Full of Fun
Sometimes when May and I go hunting we don’t find birds, one of us can’t shoot straight, or a variety of other factors find us back at the truck with nothing to show for our time. However, what we always find is a field full of fun. A day on the prairie watching your bird dog do what they love is better than a day doing anything else, birds or no birds.
Marketing is also a (career) field of fun! Don’t let the day to day struggles or some hardships get you down. Remember that your job is to literally have fun and make marketing materials that are exciting. No matter what happens in the times between, remember that marketing in and of itself, is fun!
