Inner Game of InfoMarketing Part III: Are you working too hard at this stuff??

On my birthday I take stock of my life and reflect on how it’s going. And today is my 38th anniversary of being…. me.

I’m approaching 40 a lot faster than I’d like, but it’s not really scary.

More like a ‘Halloween mask’ scary… I’m supposed to freak out about getting older because everyone else does. I’m not, but that’s a topic for another time…

Because this month marks ANOTHER important birthday… The MaverickMarketer.com Blog is now one year old.

So I’ve got some big reasons for doing something special for you… and I am, as you’ll soon see.

Before I tell you where I’m going with all this, I want to explain why I didn’t eat for 8 days recently. I got a ton of email questions about this when I mentioned it off hand in a previous post.

I had a great opportunity to slow life down, simplify, and face starvation (lol).

In reality, my wife suggested we do a cleansing fast to help us get over the strep throat we’d all gone through this past month. I was wary of the idea but I couldn’t say no and we proceeded to only have liquid for 8 days. Yeah… for a guy who HATES to be hungry, this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. That eight days is a story I may come back to some time… amazing experience, but for the record I wasn’t on a hunger strike and I’m not facing any health crisis

So let’s get back to what all this has to do with The Inner Game of Info Marketing… because I believe if you get this it will be the greatest gift I could give you as I celebrate these birthdays.

See, whenever I tell my story on this blog about how different my life is today from when I started out as an entrepreneur 20 some years ago I get lots of questions…. like ‘how did you do it?’

There is a gigantic difference between me today and me then and I don’t really mean ‘money’ either.

And lately I’ve been more and more fascinated in what made my transformation possible. Since I came back from my RV trip this summer I’ve been obsessed with wanting to answer the question of how I ‘made it’ and help others achieve freedom.

My first reaction was to help you build a list and do more profitable email marketing… and that’s great. I’m still going to do that.

But I’ve realized recently more than ever that ‘marketing tactics’ amounts to an Outer Game we play in business to make more money. The better we get at it, the more money we make, right?

Yes… absolutely, but only to a certain point.

What I believe now after watching my own journey and getting to know a lot of top marketers and business people, is that the Inner Game stuff that goes on underneath the surface of your business and inside YOU is at least as important, if not more so, to your success.

To prove that, let me just say there are a ton of people I meet at seminars who are like I was years ago: they’ve bought all the books, gone to seminars, ploughed through home study courses… and they know just about everything you can think of… they seem to ‘know’ everything… but they aren’t making any money (and often don’t have a website at all).

See, if ‘marketing know how’ were the whole story, that wouldn’t happen.

But I did that for years back in my twenties so I’ve been there, I know what it’s like.

Some people call it ‘analysis paralysis’.

Perhaps… I’m sure that fear of making mistakes and all that certainly holds people back, but I think there is a deeper issue than that.

You’ve probably heard that if you ‘do what you love’ the money will follow, right?

But there are equally strong arguments that many ‘would be marketers’ are all passionate about stuff that doesn’t make them any money. No doubt, I’ve talked with people who are all excited about some ‘out there’ idea where there is no established market and little prayer of making money.

So the other ‘conventional wisdom’ is to ignore your passion and just ‘do what’s proven to work.’

It’s hard to argue with following something that is ‘proven to work’, right?

But after years of watching people be stuck, chasing their own tails, going round and round in circles, I don’t believe ‘conventional wisdom’ about dismissing ‘passion’ in favor of ‘proof’ is the whole answer either for most people.

Of course you have to be selling something that people want, and some products simply don’t appeal enough to sell well to anyone… but I don’t really know a single successful person who wasn’t passionate and fired up about what they are doing.

Let’s say someone is building ‘content sites’ and selling little ebooks in a dozen different niche markets in which that person has NO personal interest. But, the research showed that market would be profitable so they kept adding on new niche markets just like that.

Is there passion there?

I believe yes… but not in the ‘topic’ of the niche, but in the game of finding undiscovered markets and turning a profit in a systematic fashion. Playing the game and winning is where the passion comes from there.

But I see lots of people who don’t share the ‘passion for the game’ trying to build ‘niche’ businesses and being totally miserable and unsuccessful because they don’t give a rats patootie about what they are doing. It’s all just work, work, work.

Secretly they want to do something else, but conventional wisdom says ‘get rich with niches’ or whatever.

And in the info marketing game, there is a lot of ‘conventional wisdom’ like that to lead you down the wrong path.

Me? I can’t sell my way out of a wet paper bag unless I personally am passionate about what I’m selling. I know that about myself and learned the lesson the hard way, too.

Let me give you an example.

Years ago I was in a network marketing company and I was a rising star. I was supporting my family with the income and was on track to do better than six figures my first year. I was passionate and on a mission. I felt I finally found something where I could really help other people break free from their day jobs. I was sponsoring people left and right and I surprised myself deeply because I had always thought Network Marketing was impossible…

I’m not slamming the industry here, just saying that what happened next was heart breaking for me.

The company I was with started to fail to deliver on promises and have ugly customer service problems. This, combined with how hard Network Marketing is for many people caused a majority of my ‘team’ to lose most if not all of their income and they were dropping out like flies. Many never made a dime to begin with…

At first, I was in denial and stuck with the ‘company line’ on the troubles, and tried to keep morale up… but in the end I realized that it was all a lie and that I lost my faith and passion almost overnight.

With my passion gone and my belief shattered my entire team quickly dispersed as I did and all that work and income went up in a puff of smoke.

Some people can sell without feeling that ‘passion’ and belief in something, I can’t.

So let me ask you, if you’re stuck right now with your online business, how much of the stuff you are doing is ‘passionate’ for you?

How much are you just doing because you think you ‘have to’ to succeed?

I’m not suggesting you do anything sudden or trash your business just because you have a bad day (or stretch of days). But if you inherently don’t like what you are doing then my advice is keep your eye open for something you ARE passionate about.

I bet you’re working way, way to hard for whatever success you have.

But conventional wisdom says we have to ’slog through the tough stuff’ to get what we want, right?

I know I believed that hook line and sinker (and still do sometimes), but I also have seen success get easier and easier for folks who simply follow their passion and ignore projects and business ideas that turn them off.

For most, especially those who are struggling, choices in business and work are not about passion, dreams, or loving every minute of what they do.

Instead, we’re taught to play it safe and go with ‘conventional wisdom’

How many emails or websites really market with any kind of passion? Most are pretty much copycatting ‘what’s expected.’

Sure, some folks try to ’shock’ you and do what I call ‘clever’ ads that go for laughs… but that’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about ‘connect to your core’ emotions… like when you watch a movie like ‘Click’ with Adam Sandler and realize that just as he’s ‘fast forwarding’ through his life, you are too.

That’s different than watching ‘Wedding Crashers’ and being shocked by the gratuitous booby shots. I’ve partied too hard in my life too, but I don’t get misty eyed thinking about it.

It’s the deeper emotions that tap ‘what life’s all about’ stuff that’s been on my mind lately.

I’ll tell you what, when I go off on a rant like this and poke at stuff with real emotion behind it — whether it’s nostalgia, RV trips, my son’s surgery, 911 or Sylvie’s breast cancer… folks respond in droves.

Funny… conventional wisdom would suggest that my marketing stuff would get more comments, since that is supposedly why people opt in to my list.

But I’ve learned that when I open up and talk about The Inner Game, what’s inside all of us, I tap into something that is a lot more passionate for me and for my readers.

It’s so easy to coast… to stick with what is easy and comfortable… but that’s not where big success comes from.

Excitement isn’t it either… that’s just like a happy puppy wagging it’s tail. It’s fleeting and temporary.

Passion is something much more… and it’s got a scary edge to it… that’s when you’re pushing the envelope. Passion is NOT safe. It’s a loaded emotion and it feels like a lit stick of dynamite sometimes as you get closer to what really drives you emotionally.

But that is LIFE. That is when I feel most alive. And… that’s when I find I’m most successful, too.

You want to capture the minds, hearts and wallets of your customers? Find whatever you are PASSIONATE about and pursue marketing THAT.

Trust me, what I just said, if you take it to heart, is easier said than done. Your ‘logical mind’ is probably screaming right now with all the reasonable objections to what I just said.

That’s not logic, it’s FEAR running amuck in your head.

Now, don’t go kicking yourself around if you don’t instantly light your world on fire and pursue your deepest dreams.

But DO push yourself. Stay willing to be uncomfortable when you know you’re ‘on to something’ passionate for you.

It shouldn’t feel like ’suffering’, but rather like you’re on the edge of your seat watching a thrilling movie.

All I know is that conventional wisdom says to bottle yourself up and present a ‘normal’ face to the world…. but at least in the times we live in it’s folks who are just plain ‘real’ that are getting the biggest rewards as far as I can tell.

In marketing online, it’s so easy to get lost in a sea of mini-sites and sameness… 1001 teleseminars, 42 billion ebooks, and enough email to choke up a digital horse… you’ve got to find a way to stand out.

Passion, value, and fun and being yourself is the key, I think.

Let me give you another example…

On September 11 when I did my 5 mile long post "Salesletter for life" I can tell you I probably would have edited the heck out of it had I given in to the little voice in my head telling me not to put all that out there.

In fact, after I posted it and clicked send I had a pang of angst shoot through me… "What the heck have I just done?"

I guess my point is that I give myself permission to do stuff like that and now and then I really push my own envelope.

Then again… I also play it safe, just like the next guy… so I’m writing this rant to put myself out there back closer to the edge because I want to stay there as much as I can stand.

I say tap into whatever you have in front of you for choices and projects and opportunities that make you feel like a kid in a candy store.

What do you TRULY want to do with your life, your business, your family?

What’s stopping you?

If life is a movie and YOU’RE the director with an unlimited budget and the best talent behind you… what would you put in your movie? If all the scenes about what you’re doing right now would get cut… it’s time to do a re-write.

There ain’t no sequel as far as I’m concerned… assume you got ONE shot here. So let’s see some action, some drama, some passion… something that will keep you on the edge of your see right through the ending credits.

Speaking of ending credits… that’s a wrap on this rant. But I’ve got a gift for you first…

What I’d like you to do is click HERE on this link and let me know what YOU truly want to do in your business and what’s holding you back.

I’d really like to know… and I’d like YOU to ask yourself the question and tell me so it’s real for you and on the front of your mind. Becoming aware of this question and your answer is powerful. It’s a gift… and I’d like to think it’s my gift to you today on my birthday and the birthday of this blog.

So click here to tell me what you really want from your business and what’s holding you back… do it now!

Until next time… stay tuned. I think this will lead to something fun….

- Craig