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.
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).
Today’s show is a personal appeal. I’m not singing in The Yellow Studio, but I have before. Not nearly as well as John Lennon.
Here are the questions in today’s show:
1. If you create and consume content, how often do you do that? You may create content only weekly, but consume it hourly. I suspect we all tend to consume far more than we create.
2. What’s your schedule? Do you create content on a regular basis? Do you visit various content regularly?
3. Do you subscribe (either by email or RSS or any subscribe button) or do you just visit sites to consume their content?
4. How do you feel about the content created here? We’ll go ahead with a few more numbers under this heading (but don’t worry I’ve only got a few more questions). Rate my content on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being “I could care less” and 5 being “I can’t take my eyes or ears off of it.” (In the podcast I call this the final question, but the following questions are under the headline of this question so my numbering system may confuse you. Sorry.)
5. I should ditch this content: ______________ (fill in the blank). This is subject matter I should stop producing. (Yes, I call this number two.)
6. I should do more shows on this: _____________________ (fill in the blank). This is subject matter I should more heavily produce. (I call this one number three.)
7. Yes or No. I should stop producing video. (I call this one number four.)
8. Do you wish I would blog more? That is, I should just write posts without video or audio. (And this one is number five, confused yet? Me, too.)
9. I’m currently podcasting once a week. That is, a single audio only show comes out once a week. Is that enough, too much, not enough? (Here’s number 6.)
10. Is it just time for me to stop all this? Actually, this final question is just whatever feedback or suggestions you want to give me. (This is the final question. I called it number 7 and it’s the most important one.)
Email me or leave me voicemail feedback. Please, please, please!
Thank you for listening, watching and reading. Thank you for being part of my life. I hope I’m just a small resource to help you along the path. We’re all just a work-in-process.
Some unruly child about 3 feet tall, all of 45 pounds wielding enough power to be the envy of any Communist dictator. And a parent softly pleading with this little tyrant to behave, act nice and stop yelling.
Power corrupts. Three and four year olds don’t have an extraordinary capacity for wisdom though. Drunk with power he grows increasingly confident in his ability to twist mom and dad into Harry Houdini contortions as they try to bend to his will.
Permit me to introduce you to Melvin Williams, the subject of the HBO series, “The Wire.” Melvin ran the heroin trade in Baltimore for decades. No, Melvin doesn’t take drugs. He doesn’t even drink. He just wanted to make money – as much as he possibly could.
Melvin is an old school hoodlum who refused to rat out anybody…so he’s done his share of prison time. Twice. Refusing to testify against anybody. A life of crime, sacrificing too much time behind bars.
Parenting is a lost art in many homes. Sadly, Melvin’s home didn’t do him any favors. Sure, his mom may have been a good woman, but to be a good parent demands a willingness and ability to say, “No!” And to enforce it.
Suffering a setback. It happens to all of us. Bouncing back can become more difficult with age. We ponder our own mortality and we realize that today is important because it’s all we have. No matter our age…we’d do well to seize the day – every day. Our days are often considered with greater sobriety when we’re older.
Encounters with loved ones, friends and even strangers can teach us lessons best learned early…rather than too late. The fact is, we’re all in this together. And today, I’m made to consider more seriously the power of showing gratitude and thanks while making the most of today. Isn’t that the best preparation for tomorrow? I think so.
Shel Silverstein is my kinda guy. He wrote the wildly successful book, A Light In The Attic.