Two roads diverged in a wood and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
—Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
Likely you’ve heard Robert Frost’s iconic words before. Perhaps “The Road Not Taken” was even read aloud by a well-meaning guest speaker at your high school graduation. The idea that we should break free from the crowd to forge our own path to success is an intoxicating one. The only problem is that it’s not what Frost wrote about. If you aren’t familiar with how this poem is often misunderstood, give it a quick google search. It can be an eye-opener if you’ve never thought about it before.
Frost knew, like so many of us come to realize in life, that there are many possible avenues to get us where we are going. Sometimes that path seems quite obvious; sometimes less so. The important thing is that we try a road and see where it takes us. Maybe we can turn back if it doesn’t pan out like we thought. But most likely by then a new avenue will have opened up and, as he says, “way leads on to way.”
In the same way that people make personal choices that impact their lives, businesses also have many roads to wander and subsequent decisions to make. This poem came to mind in a conversation I recently had with JD Graffam, owner of Audience Ops as well as a portfolio of many diverse enterprises. JD is a creative writer, and he knew that I am an avid reader. He said “Audience Ops is on a walk in the yellow wood, and there are not two possible roads to take, there are fifty. We just need to start walking down some of them.”
What he was referencing was the fact that AO has seen a decline in new clients lately, and things need to start moving again. Like the other business owners out there who need to focus their talents and time on empire building instead of the daily task of marketing, JD admits he is not the person to lead the revival that AO needs right now. That’s where I come in.
How exactly I came to join the team is an interesting story that, like a good meandering hike in the woods, I’d love to tell you one day. For now I will say that my personal story is not uncommon to many people, and perhaps mothers in particular. I stepped away from the workforce for ten years to care for my family and like most parents, I worked longer, harder hours than ever before. As my children grew I began considering working outside the home again.
I came across several opportunities but nothing inspired me enough to make a change. As someone who generally has more ambitions than time and means to accomplish them, this lack of motivation made me wonder at myself. By the time that AO appeared, I honestly didn’t expect any different. And yet, the challenge and mission it presented ignited a drive within myself almost immediately. In a kind of corny way, I feel AO and I found each other in the woods. We’ve both been wandering, trying to find our way. Together we will move forward. We will try a few roads, even fifty if we have to, and not look back.
In truth, the kind of challenges that AO has been addressing lately are common to most small businesses. The AO writing and editing team is top-notch and ready for more work. But without a dedicated strategy to reach, recruit, and support new clients, growth has stagnated. Our product offerings are not as up-to-date with current marketing trends as we’d like. And we want to increase our presence and voice in the industry in order to share our knowledge and experience with the greater community. Essentially, and perhaps even ironically, AO has not been doing for itself what it does for its clients. And that’s about to change.
So here I find myself, on the verge of a new chapter in my life, and my chosen companion is a company of excellent people, all ready for action, and ready to start a new chapter of its own. Maybe it’s business as usual for your company lately, but it’s always a good idea to pause for a moment and consider where you stand. How can you better spend your time and talents? Do you need a bit of a refresh? Any missed opportunities or pain points that you’ve been putting off addressing?
If so, consider how AO might partner with you to address those concerns. Leave the daily leg work of researching and writing blog and social media posts to us. Or let us help you branch out into the world of podcasts so you can reach a wider audience. Perhaps even perform a case study, so you can dig deep into what works and doesn’t for your business. Consider: where exactly are you going, and do you have resources in place to get you there? Let this be the year that you peer down a different road and see where it leads you.
AO is prepped and ready to work on your behalf, and explore those paths with you. You may just find that those first steps were the ones that made all the difference.
