When it comes to marketing, forget the silver bullet. Why? Because it’s missing the point.

If we’re looking for the next gimmick, the next new thing to save the day, we’re losing sight of why we’re in business in the first place, which is to bring change, to provide something of value and to affect people’s lives in a positive way.

But . . . some might say . . . we’re in business, we need to make money, we need more exposure, more viewers, more likes, more leads and more revenue.

That’s just a narrative, one that has become so engrained in our thinking that it’s difficult to see beyond it.

Most people in Europe at one time thought the world was flat. Now we think that’s absurd. Most of us once believed in Santa Clause, perhaps even the Easter Bunny, but we don’t any more. Beliefs are not static, they are changeable, and we can change our narrative around the work we do.

Does that sound scary or threatening?

Perhaps, but it’s not as hard as it may seem.

Seth Godin invites us to build our businesses by appealing to the “minimum viable audience,” which means to find those few people that will care so much about what we have to offer that they will engage with our products and services. Then it’s our job to dazzle them with an offering that’s rich and meaningful and valuable to this audience—which is the place at which our product or service becomes sharable, and from there it grows.

Focusing on the “silver bullet” means we’re looking for a tactic to solve our marketing problem, when the problem we most likely face has nothing to do with tactics, but with our offering and the way we share it.

The silver bullet approach says, we want more, and we are not necessarily discriminating about where the more is coming from.

The long-game approach, where we make something of value says, “We want to share it with those who care, with an intention of making a positive difference in their lives.”

Staying focused on why we do what we do and who we do it for is what Simon Sinek refers to as “the infinite game” or what Seth Godin refers to as “doing work that matters.”

It is also courageous and generous to those we serve.