Today’s post is an e-mail I got from Dan in South Australia that is so valuabke that I had to share it with you.
You’ll see my responses indented and in italics.
On 11/17/2008 11:59 AM, “Dan XXXXX” <dan@xxxxxxxxx.com> wrote:
Hello, I am interested in attending your internet marketing course however I have some questions first.
Please pass this on to Marc.
I’ve attended some Jay Abraham and Brian Tracy courses in Sydney. I’ve read the books, listened to the CDs.
The kind of information that is promoted for your event is just what I need to learn for my business.
I would much rather spend a day with a guru than spend months trying to teach myself by searching the web for the information.
However, I have to question Marc’s guru status due to the following. Could Marc comment please?
Whenever I receive emails from Empowernet they automatically go straight to my junk box. Not because I have set it to label them as spam or junk, something in the emails is triggering that automatically. I have a pop mail account with minimal spam protection, not a free service like hotmail. I would expect Marc to have tested the spam rating of his emails before sending them. I submitted his most recent one to a spam rating service and the score was terrible; it scored 7.9 out of a possible 13. A score over 3 or 4 is considered unsafe. Marc more than doubled the danger levels with his email.
Dan, That is a GREAT observation and a GREAT compliment. E-mails that don’t end up in spam or junk mail folders are BLAND and BORING. Once you’ve ‘whitelisted’ me in your e-mail program, the e-mails should go through without a hitch. It’s one of the many strategies we teach our clients. Of course if you want to get through the spam and junk mail folders with NEW clients whom you have not communicated with, there are DOZENS of strategies to do this. We teach BOTH strategies so you can CHOOSE what outcome you want to achieve.
The e-mail I sent you was destined to my clients and prospects who have opted in to receive e-mails from me, which means I don’t worry about spam, in fact I totally disregard it to maximise the conversation I want to have with the reader.
I know this sounds counter-intuitive, because it is. In fact there’s a word for it – antimimeticisomorphic – doing out-of-the-ordinary things that produce EXTRA-ordinary results. You CAN’T do what others do an expect different results… Think about it…
I clicked on the first link in his email. It takes you to not only a different page than the link says but to a non-existent page:
Some e-mail systems strip out code that creates this problem – the links actually work when not modified. If your program does this, you’ll have difficulty accessing a lot of information that people are trying to give you. This blog is not the place to do technical support, but it is important to realise that sometimes your settings are at fault and create problems. In this instance, I double-checked the links and others have clicked through without incident. The solution is to re-set your e-mail security settings so this doesn’t happen.
The theme of the email was how the top gurus focus intently on what they’re doing. In Marc’s case he labels himself as a top-earning guru who applies most of his focus to his blog. The first blog link I see goes nowhere…..would you say that reflects someone who can teach me about ‘focusing’?
This has been addressed above, but you also have to ask yourself the BASIS of your question – do you doubt everything everyone tells you? If you do, you’ll be hard to coach or mentor. I understand that in this day and age you have to have a healthy dose of cynicism and skepticism. I get that – but even a technical glitch should not get to the point of questioning someone’s integrity, especially someone who is successful with the only 100% RESULTS GUARANTEED programs in the country… Not satisfaction guarantee, but RESULTS guarantee it’s called the Platinum Program.
My father and his father were German engineers. Attention to detail is hard-coded into my genetics. The lack of attention to detail I’m mentioning here really stand out to someone like me and further erode my confidence in marketeers.
I understand and suggest you look at the syntax you use – Marketeers and Marketers are not the same word. Marketeers is a derogatory term which psychologically pre-frames you negatively. We teach this in our Platinum Program, how to avoid pre-framing for failure.
I also understand and respect the need for precision – I am an engineer myself, but have learnt that “perfection is the poison of profitability“. NO ONE IS PERFECT. Even if this is a technical error, life goes on. People like yourself are generous enough to give me a second chance. People as giving as you have been and will continue to INVEST TIME AND EFFORT to point out the improvements that can be made. That is an incredible thing to witness – wouldn’t you agree?
With each criticism comes improvement – 1 percent at a time.
I manually typed in Marc’s blog page address to see what kind of information was there. Again, I clicked on the first link I came across to go to the Internet Mastery Blog – another of Marc’s prime focus points. Again it takes me to an error page with no content:
http://www.marcdussault.com/blog/www.ExponentialPrograms.com/Internet/blog/get-more-traffic-to-your-site-or-blog-with-no-effort <http://www.marcdussault.com/blog/www.ExponentialPrograms.com/Internet/blog/get-more-traffic-to-your-site-or-blog-with-no-effort>
Without being disrespectul – the address above won’t work because the actual address is: http://www.ExponentialPrograms.com/Internet/blog/get-more-traffic-to-your-site-or-blog-with-no-effort
I read the email interested in the event however before deciding if I would spend money, I wanted to know when it was on. It mentions that it is going to be held in Melbourne which would mean booking a flight. The email however does not mention the date or venue for the event. I clicked a few other links to be taken to a capture page which also fails to mention a date or venue. It gives me no choice but to give my money first, find out where and when it is later. This makes me nervous.
All the content information is on the sales landing but Dan is right – the date and venues are not there!!! How did that happen?!?!? It’s probably because it’s the 4th BONUS day to the Exponential Internet & Business Building Bootcamp which are the 3 days BEFORE the Internet Millionaire Marketing Day, Wed, Thr & Fri December 3, 4 and 5th…
So guess what?!? Dan is right – we’re human and make mistakes!!!
But also, Dan PROVES that when you create enough VALUE in the e-mail, you get people like him to point it out so it gets fixed – it will probably be fixed by the time you read this blog post!
I can see that Marc is aiming to earn $30K – $35K less expenses from the event. I have no problem with that however Marc’s obvious lack of attention to detail makes me question his ethics. A “focus guru” with a lack of focus wants me to give him over $1,000 and a day of my time to learn how to focus.
There are three points here – (1) If you’re concerned about what I am aiming to earn from this event, you shouldn’t attend. You MUST ask yourself only ONE question – what will you get out of it? If you don’t think you’ll get more than $1,000, then it’s not for you. The top 5% are the top 5% BECAUSE there is another 95% who are NOT in the top 5%… That is not a mathematical trick, it’s just how it is. This event is about getting into the top 5%.
(2) Focus is one of those words that people have difficulty defining. Focus does not equal PERFECTION. My FOCUS is to give attendees incredible value by revealing how they can unleash the Exponential Potential™ that is within their business or website.
Responding to Dan’s e-mail via my blog is EXPONENTIAL because thousands of people can learn from Dan’s contribution and investment of time and effort. If he wants to identify himself and get the backlink to his site, he can do that by placing a comment to this blog post. If he wants to remain anonymous he will. I will never reveal his identity without his permission.
(3) Focus and ethics are two very different things as I am sure you can appreciate. I do understand Dan’s perspective and I am taking his e-mail apart out of respect for his hard-coded genetics. One of the strategies we cover at the Bootcamp entails creating Multiple Pathways To Profits™ that includes establishing the step-by-step or click-by-click conversations you need to have with prospects and clients. This is a priceless skill that once developed, stays with you for life.
It reminds me of Arkad from “Richest Man In Babylon” who loses all his savings, giving them to the brick maker to invest in rare jewels later to be told “why trust the knowledge of a brick maker about jewels….if you would have advice about jewels go to the jewel merchant”
I use the expression that you don’t ask your car mechanic to cut your hair, you so must chose your mentors wisely… So Dan and I agree on this point. As well as his reading list – The Richest Man in Babylon is a must-read book!
My Internet expertise speaks for itself – you can read more than 300 pages that are posted on my sites, revealing more than 50 different products that were created with NO staff and on a shoestring budget.
Some of those sites are:
www.MarcDussault.com
www.ExponentialPrograms.com/Internet
www.ExponentialPrograms.com/Business
www.SpeedStudyForBusiness.com
www.SpeedReadingVideo.com
www.FamilyFirmSuccession.com
www.AntiMimeticIsoMorphism.com
www.ExponentialMasterMind.com
So, I hope this is not too critical, I’m sure Marc has many fine qualities and has accomplished much more than I have online however I am very reluctant to choose him as my guru to learn about more about Internet marketing unless you can show me why I should trust a focus guru with a lack of focus. I never experienced any messy marketing nor was I ever made to feel nervous when I attended Brian Tracy’s events.
Dan, this event may not be for you. An Exponential Mindset™ is not for everyone. Brian Tracy is the epitome of excellence, and professionalism, so once again we agree! I think the confusion is the definition of focus. I have total focus, but I’m not perfect, never have been, never will be. FOCUS however is something that comes only second to DRIVE when someone describes me.
That being said, if you have a need for perfection, I might not be able to help you. If you don’t think this level of response and this TYPE of answer leveraging it via my blog isn’t original and exponential, then the Internet Millionaire Marketing event is not for you.
However, something tells me that you’re impressed that I have mirrored your investment writing your e-mail with an equal investment and that I would reveal my imperfections and explain them without being defensive or accusatory.
Something also tells me that you’re looking forward to meeting me and spending a day with someone who’s read the same books you have, hase been taught by the best – Brian Tracy (Anthony Robbins and Jay Abraham) and has taken it to the next level.
Something tells me you’re not just looking forward to it, you’re excited that if I am the ‘real deal’, you already have 80% of what you need to be massively successful and I’ve made the investment to be able to hand over the missing 20% that will make all the difference.
That something is my belief in the power of the human spirit that can overcome the chatter and limiting beliefs that occupy our self-talk – those voices in our heads…
I believe you took the time and made the effort to let me know how I can improve to help you.
Something tells me I WILL SEE YOU at the one-day Internet Millionaire Marketing Day – maybe even for the full 4 days including the Exponential Internet & Business Building Bootcamp...
Onward and upward!
Dr Marc Dussault
Australia’s #1 Exponential Growth Strategist who is not perfect!
P.S.
This is a prime example of what happens when you GIVE MASSIVE value up-front and do out-of-the-ordinary things that get you noticed. Sure sometimes people will pick on your shortcomings, errors and mistakes, but they do that BECAUSE they care and want more from what they’re doing.
Dan starts by saying “The kind of information that is promoted for your event is just what I need to learn for my business. I would much rather spend a day with a guru than spend months trying to teach myself by searching the web for the information.”
If Dan was just whinging and complaining, I would have just deleted the e-mail. I get a handful of those every year, as you’d expect with a database of TENS OF THOUSANDS…
I want to take this opportunity to thank Dan for creating this priceless blog post – as you well know, I could not have done it without him. That is another one of the strategies we teach at the Internet Millionaire Marketing event – take people’s contributions and BUILD VALUE for others.
