When the race to make HD videos was started, there were two competing systems to choose from.

BlueRay and HD DVD. Now society would have us think that the better product would win, some sort of natural selection but this wasn’t exactly the case.

The real winner was the one that could get the most amount of traction. You see traction is important because it gives you cash flow and means that not every sale has to be fort for.

When I say fort for, I don’t mean in some sort of battle, but as you start up you will be desperate for leads and again be more desperate to convert them.

If you get traction though, you might find leads coming in that you didn’t plan for, maybe referrals for example. But also when selling something, it’s a lot easier to sell the number one product in the world than the number 2. People just like things they know.

In the battle for the future of HD Video then, blue ray eventually won. This wasn’t because it was the better system, it was because the tram behind it Sony won the race to get more traction.

They were focused on the things that meant they would have the most volume, full well knowing that by knocking out the competition they would see profit on their investment in the end.

They did this by securing the right to most new film releases, putting blue ray in the PS3 games console and finally by signing up the major porn distributors.

Yes that’s right, porn. You see while we might not like to talk about it, porn shift a lot of units and with movies, games and porn on your side you’ve pretty much got the market sewn up.

Traction is absolutely vital to your business because in some sense it’s like a self-perpetuating motion. With traction much like a car can roll down hill, things just happen for your business without you having to try them, yet as with cars, if you’re not on a slope the hardest push is the first.

You’ll find when you start up that making sales will get easier with time. There’s nothing harder than your first few sales, and eventually with traction you might even be able to take a holiday.

If you want traction then, it’s absolutely vital you focus your marketing campaign exactly where it needs to be.

Chapter Summary

• Get traction, it means you can take a holiday
• The product with the most traction will win
• Traction comes from getting your marketing right

Read our next blog post “There’s more than one step to a sale”.