The Parable of the Flash and the Flame
The Copywriter Column #185
Once, there was a man named who dreamed of building the biggest bonfire anyone had ever seen. He wanted people from miles around to come and marvel at its brilliance. So, he spent weeks gathering the brightest, quickest-burning materials—dry leaves, newspapers, and pine needles—anything that would ignite in an instant.
When the day came, the man lit the fire. It roared to life, bursting into a spectacular blaze! Crowds gathered, amazed by the intensity of the flames.
But just as quickly as it grew, the fire began to die. The leaves crumbled to ash, and the newspaper was gone in a flash. Before long, only a faint glow remained. The crowd, no longer impressed, started to drift away.
Panicking, the man threw more quick-burning fuel into the fire, and for a brief moment, the flames jumped back up—only to fade again just as fast.
An elder, who had been quietly watching, approached the dejected man and said, "If you want your fire to last, you can’t keep feeding it with flash. You need something that burns slow and steady. It may take time to catch, but once it does, it’ll keep people warm long after the show is over."
It’s not the size of the crowd that matters, but the strength of the flame.
Back in my ministry days, I learned that what you do to get people in the door is what you have to continue doing in order to keep them in their seats.
This was usually a warning offered to aspiring mega-church leaders – those who equated success with the size of their congregation as opposed to their ability to lead others well spiritually.
They’d do anything to get crowds in the door: giveaways, theatrics, free concerts – you name it. But as soon as their budget shrank, so did the crowd.
In eCommerce, it’s the same thing. What you do to get someone to become a customer, you’ll have to continue doing in order to keep them as a customer.
If you hook someone with a discount, more than likely, you’ll need to continue offering them a discount in order to keep their business. But you can only do that for so long before it impacts your margins.
Build slow.
Build intentionally.
Build humbly.
You’ll have a better foundation to grow on.
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