The seed you keep digging up

Over the years, we've had a number of clients say exactly the same thing to us. There's no ROI on what we do.

I get why they feel that way. They pay each month and expect to see results. But before I answer, let me share a story about a seed.

A man wanted a tree in his garden. He bought a seed, dug a small hole, dropped it in, and covered it with soil. He watered it and went to bed happy.

On the third day, he checked. Nothing. On the seventh day, he checked again. Still nothing. The soil looked exactly the same as the day he planted it.

This is often when doubt creeps in for businesses too.

A new strategy is only three weeks old, and nothing major has happened yet. Someone asks AI for answers, gets a list of suggestions, and sends them to their vendor, asking if they can try those instead.

It’s easy to understand. Everyone wants quick results. Content companies lower their prices to win business, so it’s easy to switch. AI always suggests something new to change. Waiting can feel like you’re falling behind.

So the man dug the seed up to check on it.

It was fine. It had just started to split open. But he didn’t know what he was looking at, and his neighbour said the corner by the wall got more sun. So he planted it there instead.

A week later, nothing again. He dug it up again and moved it again.

How many times can you do that before the seed never gets the chance to grow?

I’ve watched businesses do this for years.

A vendor gets replaced after two months, or a plan gets dropped before anyone can tell whether it worked. Either way, the clock goes back to zero.

The business doesn’t die. It carries on, but it keeps starting over. Nothing stays in the ground long enough to grow, so the struggle never ends.

Eventually the man got tired of digging. He left the seed alone, and a few weeks later a small green shoot came up.

He was thrilled. And because he was thrilled, he wanted more of it, faster. He gave it extra water, then dug it up and moved it to a sunnier bed.

The shoot drooped.

This one is harder to spot, because it looks like care. Something finally starts working, so you change everything at once to speed it up. A new format and a new look, both in the same month. Then if things get better or worse, nobody can tell which change did it, including you.

Across the road, his neighbour had planted a seed the same week. She watered it every morning and left it alone. By the end of the year it was taller than the fence.

She didn’t know any more about trees than he did. She just stopped checking.

So, back to the clients who told me there’s no ROI on what we do.

It’s hard to see the return on content week by week. Results build slowly, as people remember your name when they finally need your services.

Some business owners say they don’t need content because customers find them on Google. That’s true for some. But think about what happens next. After the search, customers visit your website and often check your Instagram to see if your business is real. What they find there helps them decide. Imagine that page with no photos and nothing personal. Would they still pick you?

Before you make any changes, decide two things from the start: how long you’ll give it, and what signs you’ll look for along the way. Early signs are small: maybe someone saves a post, a customer says they saw you, or you get a new question in your messages. Sales will come later.

Sometimes, making a change is the right choice. If you’ve waited as long as you planned and still see no signs, change one thing. Then give that change time as well.

Plant it, water it, and let it stay in the ground long enough to grow.