The Maverick Marketer Blog

Apparently I’m from Mars.

And I don’t mean that like author John Gray said all ‘Men Are From Mars’, either.

Let me explain…

I’m on my way back from Armand Morin’s Big Seminar and thought I’d share a couple high points.

On Saturday night Armand always hosts a fantastic dinner and brings in top notch entertainment.

This time, Dr. Scott Lewis, stage hypnotist, put on a hilarious show… and I was in it.

Yeah… I declared that I would not volunteer to be part of the show, saying I’d rather light myself of fire than put myself up there.

But… Donna Fox was persuasively recruiting victim… volunteers… she and practically the whole crowd of several hundred people were chanting for me to go for it.

I refused.

Pat OBryan gave me a look and said I HAD to go up… and urged me in no uncertain terms to ‘man up’ and follow Donna.

I refused a second time. Donna was a good sport and moved on to lure another volunteer victim. Nearly all the chairs on stage were filled… I felt like the threat to my dignity had passed.

Then… Chris Morin, I believe, or Heather Seitz, told Donna to try one more time to get me up there.

I shook my head, stared her down… and then in a moment of insanity did a 180 and agreed to follow.

The crowd went wild.

As I walked up on stage past Armand, he was laughing… and I could see a hint of ‘oh crap’ in his expression because he knew Dr. Scott and the crowd might get more than they bargained for…

Some times you gotta say, ‘what the @#%&’, as Tom Cruise said in Risky Business.

Things got started innocently enough… everyone on stage was told to play their favorite instrument… and I did the ‘air violin’. I was a virtuoso… in my mind, anyway.

Then… things kinda went down hill from there.

So… why am I from Mars?

Because one of the skits in the show featured me as a Martian who could only say gibberish like ‘eep, opp’, ooop’.

Dr. Scott asked me what my Martian name was… and I said, ‘Ibby Schnibby’.

When asked what the Martian name was for Monika Lewinski, I pulled out the cigar Pat had given me earlier and showed it to Dr. Scott.

Everyone apparently went nuts… and I said a bunch of other stuff I’m not putting in print here.

At the end of the show, Dr. Scott called out the command ‘Chippendales’ and me and the other guys stripped almost down to our underwear as ‘Sexy Back’ blared.

I heard later that one guy was dropping his pants when Dr. Scott snapped us out of the trance.

You know how people have nightmares about being up on stage naked… well, I have an idea now what that feels like because when we were about to go to far, Dr. Scott snapped us out of it and I ‘came to’ not far from naked. Mercifully, Dr. Scott was in control while we were bonkers… and showed why he’s got the longest running comedy hypnosis show in Vegas. I definitely recommend you check him out if you’re in town.

I’ve seen the show from the audience at a previous Big Seminar… and now from inside the show… and it’s a class act. A good time was had by all.

And I learned something invaluable.

I was truly scared out of my wits when Donna ‘volunteered’ me to go on stage. When I said no twice, I meant it… I just wanted to be left alone.

Hey, I know it’s not exactly a Tony Robbins Fire Walk, but I’ve seen Dr. Scott’s fun filled show before… and I wasn’t gonna go up there.

You may recall… recently I posted ten secrets to success… and ‘Do what you fear…’ was one of them.

So in that moment when I was asked the third time and I was hoping I’d melt into the carpet or turn invisible… I realized that this was a moment for me to blast through a fear.

And, I’m happy to report that aside from being ribbed the rest of the seminar for my various comments and antics under hypnosis, I got through it without a scratch.

As the late, great, Gary Halbert said, you have to be willing to commit image suicide once in a while to be truly successful.

Consider my image ‘offed’ like a Soprano’s hit.

And, since the seminar happened in Atlanta, I don’t get the ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ immunity, either.

There’ll be no living this down…

Now, that gives you a glimpse of ‘Saturday Night’ at Big Seminar. Serious profits… serious fun.

As I said in my last email… you have to be there to truly ‘get’ why people go back again and again (this was my 8th time).

I met a woman who has a product to help children with ADD… and turned around and introduced her to AM2 Platinum Partner Kenny Handleman because he’s a serious player in that niche up in Canada. She told me later it was the perfect connection.

I had lunch with an aspiring author in search of a publisher… I’m considering publishing it through my ‘Maverick Book Company’ imprint.

And I met a teacher at another lunch who went to Big at the recommendation of a friend… and he’s got a whole new world of opportunity to create products that teach in ways he’d only dreamed of before.

Life changing stuff…

And, cutting edge stuff was unveiled to the ‘Big Seminar’ insiders like my friend Rick Raddatz’s mysterious project, code named ‘May First 2007.’

You may have heard of Rick, his last three projects were blockbusters that literally changed the face of the Internet.

I’m referring to AudioGenerator, InstantVideoGenerator and MarketingMakeoverGenerators.

He’s releasing a new product on May 1st…

Rick’s kept this event top secret and has only said WHEN it will launch… not WHAT it is… but for a guy that was in the Inner Circle of Microsoft… I’ve got no doubt this will be a powerful resource, too.

I can’t break the silence on what it is… and truly, I don’t know for sure myself… I’m as curious as you are.

Supposedly, everyone who has any interest in marketing online is going to want Rick’s new creation.

But we’ll both find out together tomorrow on ‘May First 2007.’ If you’re even a little curious click through and get the whole story.

So… that’s just a snipet from Big Seminar… fun, life changing connections, and cutting edge marketing strategies, tactics, and tools.

Well, that’s about it for now… I’m writing this from first class on my way back from Atlanta… and I’m going to tip my head, close my eyes, and get some much needed rest.

I’ve got a ton of things I could tell you about the last four days… but that will have to wait till next time.

Let me just say, next time I invite you to go with me to a seminar or workshop… do it (even if it’s scary).

I promise… I won’t make you get up on stage and talk like a Martian

All the best,

Craig

I was ‘tagged’ yesterday to participate in a brilliant Internet blog experiment called “Simply Successful Secrets” by my dear friend, Dr. Joe Vitale.

He listed ten secrets to his own success and tagged me to do the same… and play along with a fun blog experiment created by Aaron Potts.

See, each blogger posts on 5-10 things they feel contributed to their success… and then tags other bloggers to post their secrets to success on their own blogs.

Cool idea.

I gotta give Aaron a virtual ‘high five’ for coming up with the idea.

Part of the game is that each blog post is linked back to Aaron, which will do wonders for his search engine ranking, and spread the word about his own blog.

Let’s call it ‘viral blog traffic’ using a creative idea that spreads helpful knowledge while stirring up some folks.

If you follow around from blog to blog, I bet you learn a few things that might just help you achieve your next level of success.

So here’s some tips from me…

Ten Secrets of my success:

1) Be yourself:

As ‘The Maverick Marketer’, I like to do things my own way. I’m an entrepreneur precisely because I’m not good at doing what I’m told Beware the urge to try to conform and be like everyone else. Dare to be yourself… try new things.

With that said, I advise studying ‘masters’ and what has always worked, the classics. Then… you adapt what works with your own style. Said more briefly: know your craft, do it your way.

2) Sense of humor:

Whenever something happens that is unexpected or disappointing, it’s real tempting to get ticked off and start cursing. I know, I’ve got practice. But what I mostly find myself doing is making jokes and laughing about it while I figure out a solution.

Much more fun.

Hey, if a cat can fall off a chair while licking itself and act all cool, I can laugh in the face of adversity. Of course, life can be easy if you let it, but when the curve balls do fly at ya, laugh yourself a merry laugh and hit one out of the park.

3) Do what you fear:

I know, everyone says ‘do what you love’, and that’s great advice. But what I’ve found also to be true is my greatest successes come after doing something I was afraid to do — but did anyway.

If you are not the least bit anxious, afraid, or have any tingle in your spine about what you are attempting to do… then you’re still in the shallow end of the pool. Go deeper… that’s where the good stuff is, and the fear whispering in your ear that you may not be good enough to swim is your proof that you’re on the right path.

Scary? yes, but worth it. Also, you’ll learn to distinguish fear from a bad feeling in your gut. Trust that intuitive voice that says, ‘this sucks, run away’.

The kind of fear that spurs you on feels scary anxious… not bad with impending doom. Subtle, yet important difference.

4) Do what you love:

yeah, I love being an entrepreneur, writing, and teaching… and that’s what allows me to put in the time and effort to build what I’ve built. For me, it’s not about the money, it’s about the game. When it becomes about the money, it’s no fun anymore.

Use the money as a way to keep score in the game… not as your reason for playing at all. You gotta love the game… and yes, the money will follow.

5) Feed your brain:

I read, online, books, magazines, and I watch people. I watch movies, I study history. It’s not ‘tiring’, I follow whatever catches my interest.

Somehow, my subsonscious mind sorts it out into stuff I can use. I scribble ideas in my journal and record thoughts in my mp3 player… and I love to mastermind and plug in to what others know.

I often tell you about the books I’m reading on this blog… and recently, I’ve watched ‘Pursuit of Happyness’ with Will Smith and ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ with Will Farrel.

But if you really want to watch something that is fun and provocative for your business mind, check out Humbug… it’s the story of the great lotto hoax that Alan Able and Dr. Joe Vitale pulled off in promoting The Attractor Factor. It’s bold, ambitious, cheeky, outrageous, and successful… all the stuff great entrepreneurs are made of… highly recommended.

6) Chill:

Like I said, I watch movies… I play Playstation with my boys, I go for walks at midnight with fine cigars, wine tastings with my wife, and took 8 weeks off last year in an RV trip across the country from Texas to Vermont and back.

I go out to dinner with my friends Bill Hibbler, Pat OBryan, and Joe Vitale… with special guests like Mark Ryan from time to time. We used to meet weekly for a mastermind during the day, and it has evolved into a Siglo IV Cigar and steak and scotch (or martini) night out.

Relaxing, profitable, and while cigars and steak may not be your thing, getting out of the office to chill doing whatever you like is essential to getting anything done while you are IN the office.

By the way, if you spell Craig creatively, you get ‘cigar’.

7) Respect your process:

A lot of entrepreneurs are unfit for holding down a job. Creative, visionary, restless, and undisciplined at stuff that isn’t fun or challenging. If that sounds like you, then don’t kick yourself… those are NORMAL traits of successful folks who came before you.

Lousy traits if you want to achieve happiness in a cubicle, but just perfect for being your own boss. Just make sure you hire or partner with someone or a team of folks who LOVE to do what you HATE to do. Stuff still has to get done… just don’t beat yourself up for not being able to do absolutely everything.

Pick what you are good at or love to do, and go from there. And if you are a perfectionist control freak, don’t delay a second… you gotta follow this advice too.

8) Focus on what you want:

When I started my business, it’s because I wanted fancy sports cars and a motorcycle back when I was a younger man. When I got those… I moved on to bigger aspirations… like building a family and the world we wanted to live in. I knew that was my objective… not fame and fortune.

That’s why, when I had to learn something new, like copywriting, or traffic, I had the energy to do it, because I was focused on what I wanted.

When I’ve struggled, it’s often because I focused on stuff I didn’t want… and if you watch the movie The Secret, you’ll understand that The Law Of Attraction says you get more of what you focus on.

So keep your attention on your goal… and feel yourself already having it. Then all you gotta do is take action and never quit.

9) Know why you want it:

While it’s important to want stuff… if you don’t want it enough, it won’t motivate you to push through the times that aren’t fun and easy. Like I said before, if you want to make 100,000 dollars, that’s great.

But it may not provide you the juice you need to make it happen if you don’t attach that money to some greater meaning. If you support a family, then taking care of them and living your life with financial freedom is a lot more motivating than just a stack of Benjamins.

If you want to help feed kids and donate to causes that you’re passionate about… that will motivate you to raise money and your income more than the bucks alone.

And… if you have always wanted a 911 Twin Turbo Porsche… and can vividly imagine yourself tearing up the back roads with the wind in your face… then THAT may motivate you to get the job done. But don’t say you want to make a lot of money or be successful and leave it at that… put something emotional, spiritual, and real into the vision.

Your greatest meaning in your life will come from serving others… and the feelings you get from that, not personal gain.

10) Get out of the house and meet people like you:

My greatest success boost came from meeting successful people who already knew how to do what I wanted to learn.

Whether that was by reading newsletters like Gary Halbert’s, or books and courses, I found that others had solved the problems I faced… and eventually I figured out it was smarter to buy their knowledge than to recreate the wheel myself. If you can, get out of the house and go to seminars and workshops.

Meet people. Introduce yourself to the speakers and the event promoter.

You will be amazed at how fast your life can change by just meeting the right people.

Next week, I’m going to Big Seminar 9 and I’m going to meet several hundred new people… plus see dear friends like Armand Morin, Michel and Sylvie Fortin, my fellow AM2 members, all the speakers, attendees… and countless great friends who are literally too numerous to list here. I’ve been to SEVEN Big Seminars… and won’t miss a one from now on.

Always cutting edge. Always full of the top marketers (both on the stage and in the audience), and always worth a few new lucrative JV deals.

I understand, it might not be possible to go to events like that for you right now… but my friend Pat ‘Portable Empire’ OBryan’s content rich Unseminar2 videos were just released… and that was one unforgettable event where me, Joe Vitale, Bill Hibbler and Cindy Cashman all spoke on our areas of expertise. I know I spoke TWICE… once on list building, next on email marketing.

If you get a chance to attend one of Pat’s events… do it. You’ll see what I mean if you watch the videos of several attendees sharing their experience of being there. Can’t recommend it highly enough…

I’ll tell you about more seminars as they come up where I’m either speaking or attending… stay tuned.

So that’s it… my rant about ten things that I believe are key to my success.

While I’m at it… I’ll tag 5 people I’d like to see blog on this…

Armand Morin, Michel Fortin, Mike Filsaime, Alice Seba, Sylvie Fortin

Until next time…

Craig

 

I rarely post on the weekend, but I’m on a mission… and I’m inviting you along.

Should you choose to join me, you’ll get a unique and rare opportunity to get to do something beautiful AND help yourself and your business at the same time.

One of the things I love about the marketers I know is that they are some of the most generous folks I’ve ever met.

Something about wanting to teach others how to improve their lives attracts people who want to help out.

My friend Dr. Mike is, well, a doctor.

He left his ‘day job’ in medicine years ago to build an online empire… but he still cares deeply about healing and helping.

And… he’s combining his marketing savvy, his circle of friends, and his knowledge of a specific cause to make a difference.

At noon today, eastern time, Dr. Mike’s site goes live where you can scoop up a real products from all of Dr. Mike’s pals who have contributed to this promotion.

Let me give you an example… I’ve offered a membership to my private Amazing List Profits site…

In it you’ll get over 10 hours of training on list building, persuasion, and building a profitable relationship with your list.

I’ve got some marketing greats in there, too. Mike Filsaime, Jeff Walker, Alice Seba, Perry Marshall… and more…

That’s just what I’ve contributed to the DVD that Dr. Mike’s offering you to join this mission to help children with autism.

If you’re like me, you will be glad to know 100% of the money is going to a very special, hands on, and effective organization.

Of course, I’ve made a donation too… and I am hoping you join me.

Unlike the ‘Mission Impossible’ movie I’m spoofing with my subject line, where Ethan Hawke (played by Tom Cruise) had to do things real people never could… this mission is a no brainer.

Get the whole story at…

http://www.marketersonamission.org

Like I said, 100% of the money goes to the kids… and nothing is more satisfying than helping out kids in need.

And, there’s nothing wrong with helping yourself out at the same time by getting the expert information you need to boost your business for pennies on the dollar.

Oh, and also, unlike the movie, this post won’t self destruct

- Craig