Forget You

Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, not a rock star, but a CMO and trusted advisor, and in this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of marketing street knowledge that I hope will help unlock the rockstar marketer in you.

Hello!

I listen to podcasts while I am walking, and I make notes in my Notion app on my phone when I hear things that might inspire this newsletter, my weekly Tuesday 2¢ column or a topic for the podcast, and a while back, I noted:

“Have a short memory - make a mistake and move on”

I must have picked this up on a podcast, but ironically, given the topic, sorry, I have forgotten which one or who to credit this to. But it resonated.

How much time do we spend ruminating on the things that have happened that we can’t change?

Of course, we can apply this to our lives (yes, note to self), but specifically, as marketers, we are supposed to be agile, failing fast, experimenting, and conducting A/B tests, all of which require a degree of failure.

But it’s a complex business, and sometimes a URL gets misspelled, the wrong email goes out, or somehow we actually fuck up, beyond this being an experiment or an A that gets beaten by B in a test.

Our lizard brain screams in fear, our imposter syndrome gloats “I told you so” and the “open to work” badge beckons, as every story we’ve read in our LinkedIn stream about a marketer struggling to get work flashes like a mental doom scroll.

We want to run and hide.

The test is how we react, how we learn, move on, and resiliently move onto the next thing that, if we execute confidently, will be a success.

If we succumb to the doom, become paralyzed, or lose confidence, the next success will be much harder. The world will smell blood.

So, for anyone that needs this - have a short memory - make a mistake and move on, which leads me to this week’s tune - “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green, which is good advice.

Cheers!

Ian

PS: I’ve just spruced up my personal website - what do you think?

—

Some things from me, my chums and what inspired me this week.

Mistakes - forget you!