Wax On, Wax Off…What Mr. Miyagi Taught Us About Online Advertising

In the 1984 movie “The Karate Kid,” the main character is a boy named Daniel.  He moves to a rough neighborhood in LA with his Mom…all the way across the country from New Jersey.  He quickly finds himself the target of a group of bullies who study karate at a local dojo.

Soon, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, and begins to train him, as Daniel wants to compete against the local bullies.

Interestingly, there’s a large portion of the movie dedicated to Mr. Miyagi showing Daniel his famous move:

“Wax on…wax off.”

over.  and Over.  and OVER.

It’s like a broken record.  Even when it appears that Daniel is ready for more, Mr. Miyagi just repeats…

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“Wax on…wax off.”

It becomes one of the most quoted movie lines of all time.

Why?

Because it was an elementary way for people to understand the principle of PRACTICE.

You see, Daniel doesn’t understand WHY he’s doing this exercise…

over.  and Over.  and OVER.

But Mr. Miyagi does.

Daniel doesn’t realize how much MORE he’s getting out of it, than what’s being taught.  But Mr. Miyagi knows that Daniel is not just practicing.  He’s learning DISCIPLINE.

Mr. Miyagi knows that Daniel’s discipline will lead to proficiency.  And, that proficiency will eventually lead to mastery.

Right now, it’s very possible that you are JUST LIKE DANIEL in your online marketing training.

Here’s what I mean…

You’ve started advertising online.  Essentially, you’ve put up a few ads, but you’re not sure what’s working and what isn’t.  You don’t understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

BUT…

Contrary to what most business owners do, advertising online is NOT about throwing some mud against the wall to see what sticks.

It’s about FUNDAMENTALS.

“Wax on…wax off.”

There are certain ways to structure your ads.  There are certain ways to expand your audience.  There are certain ways to use content to enrich your prospect’s experience and drive more sales.

“Wax on…wax off.”

Something to consider…

What if you actually started advertising, and had BENCHMARKS to work from?

And, what if (with proper structure and testing), you could learn enough from those benchmarks that you could develop ads that could be your CONTROLS for further testing?

And, from there, what if you could test those controls against obvious VARIABLES?

And, from there, what if some of those variables proved to be better performers than your initial controls, and they became your NEW CONTROLS?

This is how the smart marketers do it…

“Wax on…wax off.”

Stick to the fundamentals.  One step at a time.  Leverage and learn from each previous step.

Eventually, the fundamentals lead to discipline.  The discipline leads to consistency.  The consistency leads to proficiency. The proficiency leads to mastery.

“Wax on…wax off.”

Mr. Miyagi was right.

Join us this week for our SMAG M.O.B (Social Media Ad Genius Monday’s On Blab) where we will be talking about validating your ad strategy in the marketplace. Click the banner below to get plugged in…

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Jeff Schechter

With the soul of an entrepreneur, and many business ventures under his belt, Shecky is the Marketing Director at Black Box Social Media LLC, (BBSM) an online marketing company that uses the latest digital marketing strategies, such as video marketing and pay per click marketing, to allow businesses to get found and generate leads online. Shecky is passionate about training and coaching other entrepreneurs to achieve high levels of success in their own online marketing ventures.

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About The Author

Jeff Schechter

With the soul of an entrepreneur, and many business ventures under his belt, Shecky is the Marketing Director at Black Box Social Media LLC, (BBSM) an online marketing company that uses the latest digital marketing strategies, such as video marketing and pay per click marketing, to allow businesses to get found and generate leads online. Shecky is passionate about training and coaching other entrepreneurs to achieve high levels of success in their own online marketing ventures.

2 Comments

  • Leon

    January 24, 2016

    Love this post. & How the email transitioned in to it. Looking forward to reading more.

  • Teresa

    January 24, 2016

    Was a very good movie. Thanks for the words of wisdom in the training related to it.