But I’ve also learned – through years of experience, hard knocks and great mentors – that you can’t short-circuit the process.
Anybody in sales knows the feeling of needing to get that sale, today! We have our own time table. If only the prospects would cooperate with us. Why can’t they see we’re only trying to help them save time?
It could be that we’re making a big mistake by stepping on the gas pedal when we should tap the brakes.
You listen to a podcast, watch a video, jump on a webinar and hear the person in charge say, “This content is going to be great!” or “This content is going to be extremely valuable.” You dive in and 5 minutes later you’re still being promised great content.
If it’s a live webinar you’ll be blitzed with social proof that the content is spectacular, but you’re wondering if these people are on the same webinar you’re on – ’cause you don’t think the content is all that great.
You visit the iTunes page for the podcast and see many comments giving it 5 stars and think to yourself, “It’s okay, but I sure wouldn’t call it GREAT.”
A blog post that promised great content garners 60 comments and hundreds of Tweets, but you think to yourself, “It was okay, but it wasn’t anything special.”
Does any of that sound remotely familiar? Sure, we’ve all experienced that. And still we feel the pressure to make our blog posts, our podcasts, our videos, our webinars, our e-books, or anything else we touch…GREAT. If it’s not great, then scrap it. Don’t even think of putting your name to anything that isn’t great.
Who am I to challenge such a truth? You’re right, nobody. But I’m still going to challenge it because it’s wrong – and too many people believe it. It’s not only impractical, it’s impossible. And since when are we so discriminating that we don’t read, watch or listen to sub-par content? We all do it daily! Is every TV show you watch stellar? Is every ball game great? Is every book you read spectacular? Is every magazine or news article great?
Then why are we supposed to believe the lie that all our content must be great? Because some popular blogger gained traction with a single post that got on Mashable and now he claims every blog post he writes is filled with high value content. And he’s quick to remind us that his writing instrument is filled with pure gold while ours is full of flat-black ink. He’s special and if you want to be special, well – you’ll have to step up your game and provide great content every single time.
The truth is, you need to create. Deadline or no deadline. Who cares? To those who claim you can’t produce great content under a deadline, tell that to one of any number of great columnists who’ve been doing it for decades. Tell that to countless novelists who were pressed to meet a publisher’s deadline. Tell that to the bands who had a label breathing down their neck to get into the studio and record. Tell that to the cartoonists who must meet daily deadlines with a clever drawing and caption. Tell it to the reporter who lives with deadlines all day long.
When you’re creating regularly, you’ll stumble onto greatness every now and then. I’m not a betting man, but if I were – I’d wager that you’ll create more greatness in the process of creating then you’ll ever create by waiting until you’ve got greatness to share. Being prolific shouldn’t be based on making sure every single creation is great.
More often than not, the pan is empty and the water is dirty.
Internet Marketing is like the gold rush…creating more fools than millionaires.
It’s likely Levi Strauss got more money than the richest 49’ers ever did. Here’s a nice little resource from Mrs. Thonus’s 3rd Grade Stars! Here’s a quote that might get your attention:
Then a man named Sam Brannan, a merchant from San Francisco, Â saw his opportunity to get rich! Â And he did it without ever mining for gold! He had heard about the news of gold on the river, the news most people dismissed as being just a rumor. Sam also knew about the law of “supply and demand” so he ran through the streets of San Francisco shouting about the discovery of gold. Brannan showed everyone a bottle filled with gold dust so they believed him. Mr. Brannan had a brilliant plan. Before he spread the news about the discovery of gold he had bought up all of the supplies the miners would need: pick axes, shovels, and pans. Â He sold miners pans for $15 each when he had bought them for only 20 cents before the Gold Fever hit. He made $36,000 in just two months and that was worth even more in 1848! He eventually became the richest man in California.
Today’s gold rush is the Internet. Shouting “there’s gold” garners lots of attention. Especially given the convergence of a bad economy and  global connectivity. It’s a recipe sure to drive hoards of clamoring people who long to be rich into the waiting arms of Internet marketers making wild claims.
Too much money is going into the pockets of the folks selling the picks, shovels and pans. They know the “typical” customer won’t make enough money to offset the purchase of the picks, shovels and pans.
Buyer, beware! There’s one ingredient you need in order to succeed when you’re mining for gold. Listen up and I’ll tell you what it is.
Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay held a press conference on Wednesday. Both men are very rich. Both men had successful fathers. I suspect both men will have a high monetary lifetime value. Peyton’s next contract is likely his last, and perhaps will be his highest!
Marketing folks often urge businesses to compute the lifetime value of a single customer. Today, I’m going to encourage you to consider your life in terms of lifetime value.
What do you think?
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