You’re never going to feel qualified, organised, knowledgeable or prepared enough. Sorry. Get over it and get started.
Most good ideas die under a pile of reasons not to do them yet: I need to do more research! I need a 10-step plan! A website! A logo! An organisation! A mailing list! Maybe a committee!
Okay. Have fun achieving nothing.
You don’t need to know how to run the whole campaign before you take the first step. Just start with the thing you care about, make one useful action, learn what happens, and go from there.
Make the first action easy
This is a big part of the thinking behind Action Stack:
Make it easy to take the first action. Make it possible to take the next one. And create pathways for the people who want to go deeper.
People don’t need to be experts to help. Give them a front door: sign something, send something, share something, show up somewhere.
Then, when someone asks, “Okay, what next?”, give them somewhere to go.
Not everyone will become a campaigner. But anyone who wants to do something should be able to take a useful first step without needing to understand an entire profession first.
That’s a big part of why we’re building Action Stack.
Your first attempt should embarrass you
If you can look back at your first attempt at something without being at least a little embarrassed, you started too late.
Your first social media post might get three likes (two from people you know). Your first video might make you deeply uncomfortable with the sound of your own voice.
Good.
You only learn by doing the thing. Make it, launch it, find out what doesn’t work, and you’ll do it better next time.
You don’t need to be that guy
You know the type. The campaign professional in the swanky suit with years of industry experience and a vocabulary full of jargon. He’s taking Very Important Calls from the Qantas lounge.
You don’t need to be that guy.
Campaigns start when a regular person notices a problem - often because they’ve experienced it themselves - and decides to do something about it. They talk to other people affected. Email a decision-maker. Start a petition. Organise a meeting. Put up a page explaining what’s happening. Ask someone, “Hey, does this bother you too?”
There will be no movement until you move, bro.
Only action teaches you
Planning is great. But action is where the learning happens.
Maybe far more people care about your issue than you expected. Maybe nobody does. Maybe the person you’ve been repeatedly emailing doesn’t even have the power to fix it. Maybe the argument you were convinced would win everyone over goes over like a lead balloon.
Or maybe it works brilliantly. A journo runs with your story. A decision-maker agrees to meet with you.
Either way, now you know something you didn’t know before.
And you couldn’t have learned it by sitting at your desk polishing version 14 of your strategy document.
Starting before you’re ready doesn’t mean winging it forever
Just so we’re clear: starting before you’re ready means you’ll be winging some of it. That’s kind of the point. You’re allowed to figure things out as you go.
But there’s a difference between learning on the job and charging blindly into the abyss screaming YOLO.
If you’re asking people for money, making serious claims or encouraging people to take action, you have responsibilities. Do your research. Check your facts. Use your judgement. Sometimes the smartest next step is to stop and do your homework.
The point isn’t to skip preparation. The point is that preparation should help you act - not become procrastination with better branding. If it’s an excuse not to start, it’s procrastination not preparation.
You’re going to make mistakes. Learn from them. Get smarter. Keep moving.
You’re ready. Get off the fence, Barry.
Stop hedging. Stop waiting for permission. You’re never going to feel ready. Just move your cheeks already, friend.
You don’t need to know how to run the whole campaign before you take the first step. Start with the thing you care about. Take one useful action. Learn what happens. Then take the next one.
Stack your actions. Get it? Yeah, you’re welcome.
And if you need another pair of hands, that’s where Action Stack Labs comes in. We’ll roll up our sleeves and help you build the thing, test the idea or get something moving.
We can confirm we will not be taking your calls from the Qantas lounge. At least not on your dime.