“The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.”
Friends, I am now the proud owner of a spreadsheet that logs every app and subscription we use in our business … and what each one does. 🙌
The reason I created it is a little embarrassing.
Turns out, we had multiple overlapping tools. For WAY too long. And I kinda knew it, but really didn’t have time to investigate … so I just kept putting it off.
That translated to wasting big bucks ignoring the problem.
I just refused to look at the bill.
***
Your website works the same way.
Not fixing it doesn’t mean you avoided the expense. It’s still (very much) there.
It shows up in calls that run long because you’re doing way too much convincing … In prospects who visit your site and never reach out … In energy-suck clients that negotiate to the point that you’re better off working at Starbucks.
None of that shows up on an invoice.
But it’s definitely not free.
***
The prospect who spends 4 minutes on your site and then bounces …
You don’t even know they exist.
The referral who Googles you before the intro call and then cancels …
You just assume they got too busy.
The lead who books a free call and then goes “a different direction” …
You’ll never know it’s your website that changed their mind.
All of those costs are completely invisible, so it never feels urgent.
You’re definitely running a tab.
It just doesn’t come with a receipt.
***
And every month you ignore it, the cost compounds — in lost business and wasted energy trying to convince prospects you’re worth what you charge.
I spent months not dealing with our subscriptions because our business kept on moving. Nothing catastrophic happened …
Until I looked at the budget.
That’s the thing about invisible costs. They rarely demand your attention; they just stealthily multiply in the background.
***
Your to-do list is NOT a business plan.
There comes a point when you realize that having an endless checklist isn’t helping your business. You actually don’t need another planner, another AI tool, or someone else’s “quick-fix” idea.
You need perspective.
Christy’s Systems Clarity Check-In is built for service businesses that are growing, but need their foundation to catch up.
It walks you through building a single, unified, documented system that allows your business to work for you. If you’re ready to lead differently, this should be your first step.
Victory Points
By: Mike Shary
My board-game-loving, copywriter extraordinaire and mentor, Dad ❤️
The Mind : A quirky, cooperative card game for 2–4 players
The Mind is a cooperative card game for two to four players where you’re trying to play numbered cards in ascending order … without talking, signaling, or showing what’s in your hand.
That’s the entire game, and what makes it feel so strange the first time you try it.
Each round, everyone gets a few cards. There are no turns. No table-talk. No planning.
You just sit there, watch each other, and decide when the moment feels right to put down your next number. If someone plays too soon, the team loses a life. If everyone somehow senses the timing correctly, the level is cleared and you move on.
What makes The Mind so memorable is how little there is on paper and how much happens at the table. You’re not building an engine or chasing combos. You’re building trust. The game slowly teaches your group to feel pacing together, to hesitate together, to commit together. After a few rounds, it stops feeling like a card game and starts feeling like some weird shared pulse.
That’s branding too. A lot of businesses have good parts, but the timing is off, the message lands out of order, or the overall impression feels disconnected. A good brand strategist helps bring those pieces into sync, so what people see and hear feels coordinated, clear, and quietly confident.
If you like games that are tiny, tense, and completely unlike almost anything else on the shelf, The Mind creates the kind of experience people end up talking about long after the deck is put away.
Make it a great week! 🙌
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