White Roofs & Campaign Management
My son was born two weeks ago today. I’m a bit tired. In fact, I’ll probably be a bit tired until around 2036ish. However, I'm still going to be at the gym by 7am today. It took me a while to get into this routine, and I know how easy it can be to get derailed.
While I’m not going to change my gym routine, his birth was a catalyst for some changes I will be making.
Specifically, my goals are as follows:
Spending more time focusing on my family, health and hobbies
Increasing my overall efficiency and productivity while decreasing the amount of time spent actively working
Teaching others how they can do same through coaching and peer mentoring
He was delivered in NYC at Presbyterian Hospital on 165th and Broadway. I could see Times Square, Freedom Tower and parts of Jersey from the delivery room. As I was staring out the window, I thought to myself “I should be doing something more useful than this.” Fortunately, my wife wasn’t even close to delivering yet, and she was currently talking to a staff member.
Something else stood out to me as I surveyed the roofs of buildings surrounding the hospitals. The large majority of them were painted white.
Fun Fact: A white roof reflects around 85% of the sunlight that hits it and heats to just a few degrees warmer than the outside air temperature. A black roof, by contrast, can heat to more than 175 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, white roofs can save a LOT of energy by reducing the need for air conditioning.
It’s been extremely hot this summer in NYC. I wasn’t hot and pregnant, so I tried not to complain about it too much.
Similarly, green roofs, a roof that is partially or completely covered with vegetation, can also reduce surface temperature. I live near Barclays Center in Brooklyn - where the Brooklyn Nets play - it has a green roof. I get the point of it, but it kinda looks like a big ass Chia Pet. Plus, green roofs are way more expensive than white roofs.
Back to the hospital view. If it’s commonly known painting a roof white can save money, why did so many of the buildings have black roofs?
One issue could be the upfront cost, even if this is going to save the building money in the long run. There is also the fact that you’re taking on an additional project that will pull you away from general building maintenance. For all you know, some tenants may even complain about the smell of this magical paint.
As a building owner, you may know white roofs are more efficient, but the friction involved in the process is enough to turn you off. Especially if tenants aren’t banging on your door demanding this upgrade.
This problem isn’t just isolated to building owners, we’re all guilty of the same thing. Sometimes we do the most inefficient stuff just because we’re resistant to change, are concerned about downtime or don’t want to make investments that will pay for themselves in the long run.
One of my clients - an agency - manually pulls campaign data from various Digital Marketing platforms. This data is then manipulated in Excel to compile weekly trend reports. They manage several clients, so it takes about 8 hours a week. This doesn’t even include analyzing the data so they can glean insights and determine what action to take.
I’ve been telling them to automate the process through platforms like Marketo or Hubspot for the past several months. Their response is something along the lines of “We get it, but we’re too busy to onboard any of these platforms. Plus, the cost would eat into our margins.”
So, you’re too busy to become more efficient?
Imagine what they could do with an extra 8 hours per week?
- They’d have more time to truly dive into their client’s data, and provide better optimization strategies.
- Better performance will result lead to increased ad spend.
- Since they work on a percent of ad spend, this would increase their overall revenue.
- Increased revenues could easily justify the investment in a more sophisticated platform.
Beyond that, they would have more time to stay up to date on the latest industry trends and updates. This information could then be passed on to their clients, which would position them as a true business partner as opposed to just another service provider.
I get it, there’s an opportunity cost associated with making any change to the status quo. You’re going to experience some downtime and some growing pains. But, if you have clarity of vision, and the grit to push through challenges, the end result can be much better than doing business as usual.
I’m definitely not poking fun at my client either, I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing. I also realize my time is now further constrained and my expenses have increased. My daughter’s daycare already costs $2k/mo, my son’s will be about the same. Effectively, my wife and I spend $48k/year just so we can have time to figure out how to make a living.
Sounds crazy right?
As Tony Robbins says:
“Too many people are caught up with making a living – and not designing their life. To design your life, you must know two things: where you are today and where you want to be.”
The goals I established are directly aligned with designing a life. The tactics and routines I develop are they way I’ll achieve them. These are all aligned with time management, behaviors, and utilizing resources.
Some of which include:
- Blocking out one day per week to read blogs, listen to podcasts and create content. (Time Management)
- Focusing on actions that either save me time or scale my income (Behaviors)
- Utilizing various tools and apps to increase my efficiency (Resources)
Time Management. Behaviors. Resources.
These are the common themes I’ve discovered in most personal and professional development books. This trifecta of progress is the foundation for what I’ll be passing on through coaching and the content I produce.
Your turn:
What are your goals, and what changes can you make to more efficiently achieve them?