There is something important we need to discuss.
Ever since I read the book “tribes” by Seth Godin and seeing some of the spectacular results of past thirty day challenge students (I’m in a really lucky position to be able to see — and get told about — how former 30 DC students are doing) that has been nagging away at me.
Why are there people who work just as hard and don’t get the same results.
Why?
This has been bugging me.
Is there anything the people who have really great success have in common that the others don’t?
There is one thing, I’m sure it’s not. Having just read another brilliant book, “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, I realise there really is no such thing as inherent talent or genius. What there is, is an ability, and recognition, that you have to put in the hours. You actually need to move from passive receiving of information — to actively doing things.
Trouble is, what happens when you have two people, both working as hard as each other, both with excellent markets, however, one does much better than the other?
As I was making the long plane trip from Australia to Orlando last month. It hit me smack between the eyes. I literally had a physical reaction. I’m going to tell you exactly what it was in this e-mail, but I want t get something else of my chest.
Another thing is troubling me, and it’s directly related to my first point.
And like the first point, I may have had a bit to do with creating a problem!
I love leverage. “What’s new!”, I hear you say.
The ability to be a gatherer of information and then distribute to your target market is a powerful weapon indeed. Like all weapons, pointing it directly at your head is a health hazard.
If all you do in life (or perhaps more importantly from my perspective, in your market), is be a “re-tweeter” or a transmitter of other’s information. How do I say this… I believe the technical term is…
“You’re stuffed”
I’m afraid you’re not going to get anywhere. It is only the people who create content (or of course, products) that get ahead! Think about it. It’s all very well being the neighbourhood gossip and passing on information to all and sundry (let’s face it, the neighbourhood gossip has their place) but they are only ever going to be the gossip and eventually that gets tired and old.
From a financial perspective, “you’re stuffed”.
I can hold my head high that I have beaten the drum (some may say - to death) for market research for many years. I have gone to the mat for market research on many occasions. You know that. It’s not a sexy job, market research does not grab the headlines or make for mega-launches. It is of course, like most non-sexy things ( breathing, paying taxes, health insurance, paying bills, picking the synthesiser instead of guitar at high school) vital.
Part of the problem, is with my insistence to conduct a thorough market research before moving on to the much more sexy field that is traffic. Is people would drop market research (once they had found their niche) and that would be that. “let’s make sexy time with traffic and conversion”
What actually has to happen is a parallel process where market research turns into ‘Market Understanding. The excellent thing is this process is really step-by-step. A very simple set of techniques carried out on a daily/weekly basis will see you knowing everything there is to know about your market place of choice in very quick order. Not only that,in another case of fantastic leverage, we will make you a market player (notice I did not say expert!) In a very short period of time as well.
Excellent, I deserve the Nobel Prize for Internet Marketing!
Umm, no.
If you stopped there and in a beautiful tying together of the various themes of this e-mail you will be destined to have no greater status in that market other than professional gossip.
Let me repeat and rephrase.
If you do nothing else but use your twitter feed to parrot other information in your marketplace, you will serve a purpose but you won’t make much money.
You have to make the transition from Market Understanding to Market Leading. And in a statement that will mean this e-mail will be confined to the circular file of 95% of the people who bother to read it. Going from “Market Understanding” to “Market Leading” does not happen overnight. You have to (sigh) work.
The really good news is, because most are not prepared to do this (And those that are prepared to do the work have no clue about the power of the tools that we teach you how to use) each market is wide open. Even ones that are highly contested.
It’s physics.
All things being equal, same marketing, same positions in Google, same traffic. The marketer who is creating content, conversations, new products and utilizing the new tools of social media and Web 2.0 is going to clean up.
The really interesting thing about this is, it’s a step-by-step process. I’ve seen it done again and again. At its core, to move from market understanding to market leading (and thereby making better money than somebody who never gets out off being the market gossip) is very simple.
The day you go from passing on other people’s insight and actually put your name to your own view and create a piece of content (a blog post, audio, video, a comic, an e-book, street theatre, you get the idea) you have taken your very first step on the path to becoming a market leader.
And to bring this baby home, this is the thing super successful thirty day challengers have done that their hard-working but sadly poorer compatriots have not.
Do me a favour, create one piece of original content in your market this week. It could be beautiful photo, a youtube video, well thought out blog post, or dare I say it… a clever tweet.
Do this, and you take a giant step towards becoming a real success in your chosen market.
Ed
PS: Let me be clear - it’s crucial to be the newsmaster - I do it a LOT! but make no mistake, I carefully think about every single one, to make sure they are going to be relevant and interesting to you, What I am saying, is if this is all you do, your going to be broke.
Ed. Thank you for this post. It has served it’s purpose as it’s making me think, really hard, about where I am compared to where I had hoped to be at this point in time. I can see that I need to make changes, and what some of those changes are, to get me to where I want to be.
Kathy
Hi Ed, just wanted to thank you for the very relevant post. It’ great to see a marketer telling the truth about this business…it’s not as easy as some will have you think. Like any other business it requires hard work and original content delivered to a market with an appetite for what you have to say, give and share with them.Looking forward to 30DC +. David R Blundell
I thought you couldn’t write Mr. Dale??
Looking forward to Wed eve! BC
Thank You
Ed, Great post and I agree completely. I have just finished an e-zine article and submitted it this early this evening and I was gratified to know that what I had done was a great unique contribution. I have to say though, that I do not understand the last 16 words of your post. I assume that you mean if all you do is create content you will go broke. Your clarification is appreciated
Frank
One of Ed’s most important and best posts.
Ed, ohhhh for fabulous, and timely and right on! I had thought about this very thing when we had Thanksgiving; I was stuffed; and in more ways than one! You carried the subject through so thoroughly and holistically; it held a number of Aha moments for me. It’s true too that you can’t just create content! Learn the Lessons Technologies has a huge amount of content on the site as well as another book and a whole slew of blog posts offline. There has to be a synergistic/holistic melding of all of the elements involved in creation and distribution. I came into the first 30 days really late and have thoroughly enjoyed and applied the info there in a very hit and miss pattern. I must confess I haven’t even gotten through all of the lessons, however glad to say I’ve applied every lesson I have gotten to; so I am looking forward to starting afresh. Thanks for all that you do!
Sharon
CAn you tell me how actually start on the 30 day training? so far I have read the blogs, interesting but is there a step that I have been missing?
thanks in anticipation of a response
Hi Ed,
I think a lot of people just use the social media sites and the Web 2.0 arena to pass on information that others have said verbatim because it is just easier for them to do so, they don’t have to think, they just ‘copy and paste’ and hit the enter button.
It’s that four letter word again ‘work’ as you so rightly said.
To me it’s like the ‘PLR’ market…how many get a PLR (Private Label Rights) product and just try and pass it on along the line in it’s original state without making full use of the product license or even just a slight alteration to the original product thus branding it as their own in some way.
Many Internet success stories have been created by using the power of PLR material, because they took the time did some ‘work’ (oops! sorry to use that four letter word again…I know it offends some people ) and they reaped the financial benefits from doing so, and will continue to do so for a long time into the future.
While spreading ‘the word’ about a good product, etc is valuable to a lot of people, why not spread the word about your own product or service or at least say something slightly different about a subject.
If we all went around just saying ‘Nice Post’ here’s my link ( like so many do in numerous forums and they should be beaten to death with one of your old guitars Ed!!..sorry didn’t mean to give you a heart attack! ) and not adding anything of value to the original content then what the hell is the point!, to me these people should go and get a ‘day job’ and at least then they would be benefiting someone.
Time to go and lie down I think before I blow a ‘gasket’
There is more than enough room for all of us to be a success in whatever ‘niche’ we decide or are qualified to w**k in, the level of all our successes will just depend on how we apply ourselves to the task in hand and ’so what’ if you make a mistake or are not a success at something the first time or second time you try it…keep at it and success will eventually come your way.
According to Wikipedia the Worlds population at the end of Nov 2008 stood at 6.7 Billion people that’s 6,700,000,000…Don’t you think that somewhere amongst this vast number that there will be someone who will be interested in something ‘YOU’ have to say?
Get out there and ‘Just Do It’…Have you heard that somewhere before?
Ted Newman
http://www.tednewman.name
Colin - if you scroll up to the top of the page and click the link for training, it will take you to the login page. If you haven’t registered, do that or log in and you’ll find all the day by day training. Hope that helps. You’ll learn heaps and from the masters.
Kathy
“Market Understanding” –> “Market Leading”. Yes!
Call me stuffed. I already figured it out. Just did not have a name for it. Thanks!
Ed,
Thanks for reminding me of those steps again. I’ve been so thrilled with the Market Samurai tool but I do tend to move from market research to traffic generation before I’ve done the market understanding part.
I don’t know, I think for most of us spending time in forums and blogs feels too much like wasting time which tends to happen too frequently when we’re trying to get something done.
Jeff
I just sign up for the 30 days challenge. Like what Ed said” How come people work hard but has little to show in Internet Marketing? This is the situation I am in now. Hopefully it will change after going through the 30 days challenge.
Cheers
Alwin Chuah (Malaysia)
http://www.globalblogincome.com
Thank you Mr Dale (Ed)
Nice to have that piece of the jigsaw puzzle and looking forward to the hard work of seeing just how it fits into the big picture of marketing success.
Great post Ed…. If it takes voice recognition software to get you writing…GREAT! So be it.
Lead on….Your tribe awaits.
p.s. Love Mr. Godin’s book “Tribes”. Got the audio download from Audible.com and bought the hard cover at Indigo books.
Smiles :o)
Gary
Great post, Chief. It is obvious that you are impacted by these two books. As well you should be.
Gladwell wrote another book called, “The Tipping Point”. In it he talks about the 80/20 Principle often spoken of by economists. The Principle is that 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants. As Jeff mentions above, many feel that reading forum and blog posts feels like a waste of time. However, I’ll bet if you took an inside look at the one’s who are succeeding, they would be those who read posts, articles, and books on the market they promote.
That is only one aspect of the bigger picture though. There is another factor to be considered. A less obvious, but no less important Principle. The Law of Attraction and all of the ephemeral laws and principles of human nature and ability associated with it. Gladwell wrote a book about one of these called, “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.” This is why some of us will see a niche or a keyword and just know if it is worth digging deeper into.
In his book “Outliers”, Gladwell looks at it from a physical and physiological perspective. I agree there is truth in what he says. However ,in my opinion, the greatest power lies in the spiritual part of human beings. Our thoughts, feelings, and intentions can make us or break us. Always thinking the worst, constantly feeling like a failure? Are your intentions all self-centered? These are things I’m sure you’ll find the 20% have well in hand.
Anyway, Ed. Thanks for a thought provoking post. But tell me, are you looking for a tribe, a Chief, or both?
Just set up my new blog and have been busy, busy, busy getting links and reading posts. Little did I know it, I have been gaining market knowledge and links simultaneously.
It is obvious I still have a lot to learn and bow to the Master, Ed Dale to lead me in the right direction. Thanks again, Ed, for pointing out that which is so obvious, it’s not even seen.
I think this is a great perspective on Market Understanding! It’s so important to have some original content out there and understand the value of building real relationships using social media, not just retweeting and passing links around. Thanks so much for all that you do for the internet marketing community, most importantly to those who are new!
Winning at the Internet Marketing game always go back to time management. I quickly found out that like so many others, I didn’t have a clear road map. One minute I’d be doing one of the 30 DC lessons. The next thing I new, I was surfing the net forgetting about the lessons. After that, I’d be wasting my time going through junk mail. I just couldn’t make any headway.
Now, what works for me is setting up a schedule and sticking to it. I allocate say 30 minutes to studying lessons from the 30DC. When my timer goes off I move on to writing an article. When the timer goes off again, I move on to the next item on my schedule. Keeping focused will leverage your time tremendously. But the thing that ties it altogether is “Goal Setting.” If you have the end in mind, it truly keeps you focused on getting things done daily both efficiently and effectively.
As is the norm, you are the supplier of super great content. Had been trying to figure out how this daft laddie could become an expert in anything, for sure the tech is my answer and hoping you can show me how….:-).
You already have taught me more than I would have thought possible so always great to keep the forward movement…..thank you!
Hi Ed, thank you for the post and being the leader that you are. If most of us were honest we have probably never analyzed why we may not be getting the level of success of someone else who we thought was in the same position as us ie newbie. What the post has brought home to me is the side of the fence that I have been positioned, as new content is tossed over the fence (by, as we now understand ,the market leaders) hundreds of market followers try and digest the content but never take the shift in action and mindset required (I include myself in this group) to hop over to the other side of the fence. This is the clearest thing yet that I have learnt in the days that I have been here. I have previously been “fuzzy” on this element of IM, no longer!
I am now half way up the fence and understand were I need need to be positioned. Nice one! Cheers mbrig
Market Research –> Market Understanding (or playing) –> Market Leading
Or in other words:
3rd Party Blog reading –> 3rd Party Blog Commenting –> 3rd Party Blog Writing
Check out this article to see a good example of this principle:
http://www.catswhocode.com/blog/how-to-have-1000-rss-suscribers-in-less-than-two-month
Best wishes
Ed, Thanks alot I am heading for a new turn in my life, and your words will come in handy to my future business plans.
Thanks
Hi Ed, Your work is a gift to many. We are sharing your dream with our global community. We thank you ever so much.
Hi Ed and all of the crew!
Really would love more information on the founder discount you mentioned with 9.99 pricetag. All I see is the 20.00 per month option. Can you clarify this because it’s abit confusing.
thanks!
It’s an honor to be tapping in to your priceless training.
Glen Woodfin
http://www.DougWead.com
bingo, you nailed it.
it’s not about what you know, it’s about how you leverage and use this information. easier said than done and as I always said, there is no secret sauce!
good post
looking forward to the 30dc
andy
incomepie.com
What an excellent post. Thanks so much for doing what you do every day. I hope my blog content is as helpful to all that reads it
Great Post! This once again proves content is king!
Great points!
I think the most important thing I got out of is that you will have to work every day with these things and not just once a week. In the beginning there will probably be some mistakes or failures but it is really good. If you don’t make mistakes you are probably not learning something new.
I am really looking forward to this. Your bold statements in the video about what you don’t have to be nor to know to become successful in this project. That was the heaviest proclamation I have heard and it is contrary to what I get bombarded with almost every day.
Thanks a lot!
Best Wishes and Happy Thoughts!
Rolf The Finn
Hi ed
i just wanted to say that getting involved in such business marketing does really gives you a hard time to not only to think about what to decide next but also what is the right steps to earn money without hurting somebody else
I myself has been involved in marketing world for a long time but really affiliates just gives me a hard time even just to earn a single dollar from it, and if i saw someone can afford to make huge profit, i did wonder how he do that. I have been doing every person advice like to increase traffic, promoting via flickr, youtube all that just don work on me,
Maybe i just had a bad luck, dunno but thats a life
ed you are the missing link, thanks man World service..love you for what you are doing, keeping it UP! did the challenge once before and raced ahead, pitted out. I heard, but I didn’t listen; to Ed’s one day at a time.
That was the most amazing post
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