Randy Cantrell is the founder of Bula Network, LLC - an executive leadership advisory company helping leaders leverage the power of others through peer advantage, online peer advisory groups. Interested in joining us? Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com
Shel Silverstein is my kinda guy. He wrote the wildly successful book, A Light In The Attic.
There’s a light on in the attic.
Though the house is dark and shuttered,
I can see a flickerin’ flutter,
And I know what it’s about.
There’s a light on in the attic.
I can see it from the outside.
And I know you’re on the inside… lookin’ out.
Then there’s this…
Last night while I lay thinking here Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear And pranced and partied all night long And sang their same old Whatif song: Whatif I flunk that test? Whatif green hair grows on my chest? Whatif nobody likes me? Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?…
I’ve loved going up into the attic since I was a kid. Dusting off boxes, opening them up to see what hidden treasures they contained was fascinating. I’d look at stuff and wonder about the past. Getting lost in thought and memory was fun. Dreaming about the future was equally fun. How can you not think of the future when you’re remembering the past?
For some weeks now I’ve been wanting to pull out the stairs to the attic here. Today I went up there, turned on the light, dusted off a few boxes and opened them up to see what I might find. My hope was to dig out a few memories, connect a few dots and think about the future. Attics have often helped me do that…so I figured it was time.
I’ve got two grandsons. Jake is 3 and his older brother Max will turn 5 this summer. They both ask lots of questions. Every little kid does. It’s how they learn. It’s how they make sense of things, but it’s also how they connect with people they’re learning to trust. The more connected they are with people, the more they’ll talk with them. Neither of them is given to walk up to a complete stranger and begin a conversation. But they’ll talk the legs off of adults they know.
All of us are selling. We’re selling ourselves, our ideas, our products and our services.
Questions help us learn about our prospects. They also help us establish rapport, trust and credibility. Think of them as touchpoints – points of human interaction and contact that help us make sense of things.
But touchpoints consist of more than simply asking quality questions. They consist of putting in the time to have meaningful contact and communication with prospects. Normally, the higher the price of our product or service, the more touchpoints we’ll likely need in order to create a happy customer.
Bert Decker, famed public speaking coach, calls it “first brain.” We must make a first brain connection, the place where we create an emotional connection. Unfortunately, I know too many salespeople who leap right over that touchpoint taking full aim at all the technical merits of their product or service. No touchpoints, no connection. No connection, no sale!
This week in the NFL owner’s meetings Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, held forth with the media for almost 30 minutes. During the interview Mr. Jones was commenting about the offensive line troubles of his team. For the past two years the offensive line has been dreadful, an admitted weakness of the team. Jerry confessed that the Cowboys’ brain trust didn’t see it as it really was. They thought they’d be fine, but they were wrong. Said Jones, “We didn’t see it at the time.”
There’s a reason for the phrase “20/20 hindsight.” We can more easily see things as they really are after the fact. It’s very valuable to be able to do that, but it’s extremely more valuable to see things accurately in real-time!
In late 1999 I went on a mission to find out more about Internet marketing. Normally I’m not a naive guy, but I was very naive about Internet marketing. It wasn’t at all what I thought it was. I was both pleasantly surprised and disappointed…all at the same time.
Every industry has contrasting personalities. There are those nice, loved-by-everybody people and there are those caustic, outspoken, in-your-face types.
Additionally, every industry is filled with varied approaches to business. Here in Dallas we’ve got two airlines: American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. They behave very differently even though they’re in the same business of flying people around.
Internet marketing is no different.
My most intense years of “study” were from 2000 to 2004, but I continued through the years to look closely at what was going on throughout Internet marketing. From affiliate marketing to information marketing. From “how to make money” to niche marketing. I looked at every angle and approach…all in the quest of learning what it was all about.
Along the way I found some people I really liked.
• Jimmy D. Brown was among the very first Internet marketers I found. He’s an Arkansas guy so it seemed likely a guy living in Texas (me) might find him affable. Well, I did. He was into some things I had never heard of, but I looked more closely at what he was doing anyway. PLR? What in the Sam Hill is PLR? Private label rights. I confess I still don’t see much value in it, but back in the day it was a big deal. Maybe it still is. Jimmy was knee-deep in it and it seemed to be a huge part of his business. He’s credited with starting the first membership site, too. You can now find him here: imstitute.com
• Terry Dean was another fellow I ran across early on. Like Jimmy D. Brown there were a variety of good stories about him. I’d heard about him getting up live, in front of an audience and crafting an email that generated over $30K before the conference was over. Ah, the good old days of legendary performances! I’m fairly certain my first physical product purchase from an Internet marketer was from Terry. Today, you’ll find Terry here: terrydean.org
• Sterling and Jay are Jeremy “Sterling” Frandsen and Jason “Jay” Van Orden. I first ran across them around 2006 thanks to their podcast. Earlier I had found Jason through his podcasting work, but I wasn’t aware these guys had teamed up until I ran across their podcast. Unlike Jimmy and Terry they were relative newcomers to Internet marketing at the time. I listened regularly to their podcast. They had a good story of running away from their cubicle jobs to a life of more independent living made possible by succeeding online. Two guys from Salt Lake City made good via Internet marketing. Yes, they’re very Internet marketing in the traditional sense – “how to make money online.” But, they regularly brought stories of people doing clever, creative things in niches. Today you’ll find them here: internetbusinessmastery.com
• Lynn Terry was one of four Internet marketers on another podcast I once listened to, Internet Marketing This Week. I was somewhat familiar with two of her co-hosts, but I didn’t follow them. Lynn was refreshingly candid and forthright. She was also willing to stand by her convictions, no matter what. I liked her straight away. Still do. You’ll find her here: clicknewz.com
• Pat Flynn was interviewed on Sterling and Jay’s podcast in 2009. He was a member of their “academy.” They interviewed him on the Cubicle Escape series of their podcast. He was Patrick Flynn then. 😉 I was especially interested in his story because he was marketing an information product that helped people prepare for an exam. He wasn’t teaching people how to make money online. He has since blown up into a major Internet marketing success. He’s one of the most transparent and forthcoming guys in the space. You’ll find him here: smartpassiveincome.com
In recent years I’ve come to know a few other people who are worth mentioning (but I won’t for fear I’ll leave somebody out). I wasn’t aware of them during these years of more intense study, but they too serve as evidence that I didn’t develop some hateful, heavily biased view against anybody who marketed “infoproducts” or found a way to make a buck online. Admittedly, they seem to fall into 2 categories (or both): a) they serve a niche (i.e. videography) and/or b) they’re affiliates for products or services they think their audience will find useful. Some of them drift over into the “making money online” genre occasionally, but the ones I admire most only do that as they’re telling their own story of how they’re made money online (ala Pat Flynn).
It’s been about 12 years since I first heard the term “Internet marketing.” I was quite confused by the moniker, but I dove headlong into educating myself. From then until now, I’ve done very little marketing online. Pretty stupid for a guy whose been in sales for almost 40 years! I’m often a slow learner. Now, 12 years later I’m preparing to start an online enterprise that includes generating revenues and profits.
Two subjects, one show. You’re gonna wanna watch this unfold. Succeed or fail, it’ll all show up. Warts and all. I have no intention of hiding anything. We’ll learn it together.
Shel Silverstein is my kinda guy. He wrote the wildly successful book, A Light In The Attic.
