"Hey stranger, how you been?"
That’s the comment I’ve been getting from just about everyone these days.
Followed closely by, "hey, you grew a goatee!"
(My friend Pat OBryan calls this my ‘outlaw’ look… it’s a whole separate story)
You might be wondering what this has to do with Internet Marketing… don’t worry, I’ll get to that in a minute.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know that back in May I left on an RV trip with my wife and our three boys and a clean shave.
We hitched up and took Interstate 20 through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and landed in Vermont for about 6 weeks on Aimee’s grandmother’s farm under a HUGE maple tree.
You may recall that much of the north east USA was drenched in rain through May and June, so at first our decision to ‘road trip’ from sunny Texas seemed a lot less than brilliant for a while.
But we had to remember that the whole reason we bought the RV was to give Sam, Ethan and Hayden a glimpse of the childhood we knew growing up in small town Vermont.
Aimee’s father runs an all organic cattle herd 15 strong on the 90 acre farm that we stayed at and the boys all simply loved it.
For starters, Hayden, our unstoppable 3 year old (the one who’s become famous for his 3 surgeries and a broken arm, all documented on this very blog) had his birthday in Vermont and got his very own battery powered John Deere tractor from his Papa (Aimee’s Dad), Robert.
At first, he scared the living daylights out of us all because he’d put the thing in ‘fast gear’ and matt the pedal, zooming off at a rockin’ 4 miles per hour (which doesn’t sound like much until you realize your 3 year old is headed for a stone wall while not looking at ALL where he’s going).
As you can see from the picture above, he did master driving the mean green machine (within hours) and was practically a NASCAR driver, never really having an accident (if you don’t count falling head over heals after stopping too fast while driving standing up).
By the end of the summer, Hayden was jumping his little tractor off the stonewall and dropping 2ft with a huge smile and zooming past us, our jaws dropped and our hands covering our eyes.
Our 9 year old, Ethan, had Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn sort of summer as he discovered the joys of nature on Lake Champlain in Vermont.
See, Ethan has grown up watching where he steps because in Texas we have hot hot hot summers with fire ant hills everywhere.
Don’t get me wrong, we love Austin, but Ethan really came into his own on the farm in the softer, gentler, greener, fire-ant-free pastures.
I know, I could show you the picture of Ethan riding his bike or carving sticks into spears, or climbing trees, or catching 13 fish in 90 minutes off one boat dock… but this picture of him with a dandelion will get more of a reaction out of him when he reads this blog 
But I’ll share this one of him having a blast on a real tractor, too.
Sam, the 14 year old ‘man on the scene’ also had an inspired summer visiting the farm, though his escapades included mowing endless grass on a riding mower (his first shot at a motorized set of wheels for a while) and capping anything foolish enough to move with his air-soft gun (think BB gun with plastic BB’s for, uh, safety).
Sure, he mastered the canoe and cleaned a barn and did all sorts of amazing things… like earn enough money to buy a 60 GB video IPOD with a ton of accessories.
(Sadly, the scum sucking pig dogs at Coyotego.com chose to rip him off and never deliver the said IPod or respond in any way, so if you find their site, may I suggest you NOT order from them… even though they appear to have the best prices). Yes, Paypal is attempting to get Sam’s money back.
I think, though, that Sam’s brightest moments were when he hung out with Hayden and Ethan, here caught in a rare candid photo op.
Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with Internet Marketing… and I don’t blame you, since for most of the time we spent in Vermont I had no (or very limited) connectivity.
(I’m STILL catching up on email now that we’re back in Austin… )
And, spending Father’s day with my dad, Aimee’s dad, and Aimee’s brother Andy (also a dad) doesn’t appear to have much to do with Internet Marketing… though the pancakes with real farm fresh maple syrup and McKenzie ham and organic bacon cooked in an iron skillet over an open fire "cowboy style" was unbelievably good.
And, witnessing a four generation family gathering as Aimee’s grandmother turned 80, surrounded by just about every living relative in Vermont on her side of the family certainly had nothing to do with Internet Marketing, though I’ll never forget the sparkle in Barbara’s eye when she was opening her presents.
And… seeing this crazy image of an Amish horse and buggy in traffic with a big Ford pick up on a magical day trip near Lancaster Pennsylvania had absolutely had nothing to do with the Internet.
Nor did this truly crazy picture of Hayden sitting on an Amish buggy at a ‘tourist shop’ near Lancaster with a HUGE Amish guy looming overhead seem to have much to do with Internet Marketing (though I thought of this blog when I took the pic).
Nope.
Technically, none of this stuff has much to do with the Internet or marketing… but if you look at this next picture, I’ll explain where I’m going with all this.
See, that’s Hayden and Ethan on the tire swing Aimee hung on the maple tree next to our RV… and I don’t think I’ve ever seen those two happier together. It’s a scene that Norman Rockwell couldn’t have painted more vividly in my brain.
I will always remember this summer as a big, rolling celebration of Independence from the Rat Race.
In contrast, had I stayed in the ‘rat race’ my wife and my boys would have missed out on this trip.
The rat race is where I’d be if I hadn’t gotten the help I’ve had from mentors of all kinds who guided me to where I am today.
Truth is, there were times in the last ten years of my marriage when we would have considered this summer an impossible dream.
I realized, some time between Texas and Vermont and back, that at every RV park (which were nothing like what you may have seen in ‘RV’ the movie with Robin Williams) I saw folks 10, 20, 30 or more years older than I am.
The biggest demographic buying RV’s today are Boomers and Snow bird retirees headed south… not 37 year olds with a wife and young kids, for the most part. Yet, many, many folks over 50 are in no position to take off for two months from work.
As I said a few months ago, this trip was something I’ve always wanted to do… I had some revelations along the way that extend beyond my family time right into my ‘marketing mind.’
And, one of the outward manifestations of that is my new goatee… something that I also never had before.
Don’t worry, I’m still the same ‘Maverick’ and I don’t take myself too seriously.
But I do have a new appreciation for the importance of what I teach… and not to get ‘mushy’ on ya, but I have a sense of being on a mission.
After our wonderful stay in Vermont (the weather notwithstanding) I had several driving days to reflect on what I’d say to you when I got back.
And I thought about what the most important thing was that made the trip possible.
You might guess it is my laptop (close, but no cigar).
Or, perhaps our truck and RV (yes, but that’s not it).
Or, diesel fuel, and lots of it? (No, but that is getting closer to the heart of the matter).
Freedom provided by my knowledge of Internet Marketing and more specifically, list building.
The time away, the diesel, the RV, and everything else you can think of, including the laptop I’m using to write these words to you… all come courtesy of something I didn’t have a decade ago when I first wanted to travel the country like this.
In a way I had not experienced in years, I felt a sense of urgency to focus on what really matters and serve you by showing you the path to freedom.
More than ever, I’m dedicating this blog and my newsletter to passing on whatever I can to you so that you can breakthrough to whatever freedom means to you. I’ve got a highly selected series of things I’ll be sharing with you in the coming days and weeks.
So here’s my lesson for today…
Do whatever it takes in the next week to start building a list of your own (or to make the one you have more profitable by 100%)
Everything else you study in Internet Marketing, including copywriting, Adsense, traffic, website design, etc., all comes back to this core truth: if you don’t have a list, you don’t have a long term business…
With a list, you have traffic on demand, giving you the ability to create sales and revenue from thin air…
Without a list, you have to hope you can advertise, get traffic, JV, or do something every month to bring in the money just to pay the bills.
Doesn’t sound like FREEDOM to me.
FEEDOM comes when you always have targeted prospects for what you offer right on your own opt in list.
That’s why I immediately agreed when Harris Fellman, of ‘12 week Intensive’ fame, asked me to participate in his new ‘BETTER Than FREE’ List Building Intensive (LBI for short).
It’s a great series of calls where Harris gets top marketers in their respective fields together and grills them to reveal their secrets… for free… Harris has his own unique style that not only informs, but entertains as well.
See, I’m not going to just preach ‘go build a list’ or ‘the money is in the list’ like you hear all the time.
I’m going to focus on digging up the best resources to help you do that… and the List Building Intensive is worth checking out right away.
I first introduced Harris and his ‘12 Week Intensive’ on this blog last December and since then, he’s become literally famous for his high energy, outrageous style, and ‘no punches pulled’ format for his calls.
Now, I’ll let Harris explain why this new List Building Intensive is ‘Better than FREE’, but I’ve got to tell you right now is the time to sign up.
See, the first call is TONIGHT, August 8th. Sign up, even if you can’t make it… (and I apologize for the last minute notice).
Whether you have a list and would like to increase your profits or are just starting out and stumped about what to do next… jump on this ‘Better than FREE’ List Building Intensive and you’ll not only hear me on one of the calls, but a dynamic and successful line up of other folks you don’t want to miss.
Get the whole story at: http://www.maverickmarketer.com/lbi
Here’s to your FREEDOM.
Craig ‘The Maverick’ Perrine
P.S. Watch this blog and your Inbox for my next post… I’ve got a lot more to tell you. But right now, go see what Harris means by ‘Better than FREE’ by clicking here