But first a quick story…

Henry Ford was a pretty legendary entrepreneur. Made millions and millions of dollars building cars back in the early 1900s. (Adjusted for inflation, that’s about a “zillion” dollars today. – OK, I didn’t actually do the math.)

But at the same time you could’ve done pretty well just working for Henry your whole life.

Back in the “good old days”, if you had any entrepreneurial skills, it was considered a bonus.

Today things are different. The economy is less certain. The prospects for long-term employment is less certain. Your earning potential is less certain. Everything is less certain!

They call it the “New Normal”.

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I don’t go to too many internet marketing conferences anymore.

One reason is I’m kind of introverted to begin with (like I said in my first post). But there’s another reason I don’t.

Because I really don’t look at business and marketing the same way most of the people who go to these kind of conferences do. (I wrote the Internet Business Manifesto after I went to an event and saw what I thought were a lot of mistakes people were making.)

But a few years back I attended an Internet marketing conference put on by a pretty well known guru. I could have written another report after that conference. Because the topic at that conference was something I consider to be another huge mistake. Yet it’s one I see marketers make again and again.

It’s a mistake that has a dangerous downside if you’re not careful. One that promising marketers disappear into and are never heard from again…

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Several years back, I had a conversation with a gentleman by the name of Porter Stansberry.

If you don’t know who Porter is, he’s the guy behind the largest financial division at Agora publishing. His group was responsible for the marketing juggernaut called “The End of America” which sold hundreds of thousands of subscriptions to his service. It’s also made him the top producer at Agora which is no small feat. So it’s safe to say Porter knows a little bit about marketing.

Anyway, I was chatting with Porter and he shared an insight I thought was incredibly accurate. Incredibly profound. And incredibly powerful. We were talking about the reasons that people buy things. (I’m sure you, as a savvy marketer, understand that people buy for emotional reasons. And then rationalize their purchase after the fact. That’s nothing new.)

However, the point Porter made – the one I thought was so powerful – was something most marketers never fully comprehend…

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When I was spending a lot of time consulting with Agora – I still work with them just not as much anymore – one of the big things they mentioned to me about my marketing was something that every A-list, superstar copywriter understands.

But it’s an aspect of content creation that most rookie marketers (and even a lot of veterans) don’t have a clue about.

What is it?

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So today I want to take a slight detour. Instead of sharing a specific insight on marketing with you, I want to share a secret for becoming a better marketer. It’s a tool I use all the time that will give you a ton more clarity into everything that you do.

I’m sharing it with you now because it will make what I shared with you in my last two posts much easier to do. It will help you nail down your “revelation story” so you can deliver that AhHa! moment to your prospects. And it will help you get inside their heads by getting inside your own. It’ll help you do it faster that just about anything else.

And the best part is, it’ll only cost you two bucks! (If that!)

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OK, let’s dive right in. Today I want to talk to you about your marketing content. Specifically about a simple but very important and unique way to think about the content that you create.

The goal of this little tweak in perspective is to stimulate demand for whatever it is you’re selling. But done correctly, it can even create demand where it wasn’t before. This is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful concepts you need to think about and put to work in every aspect of your marketing.

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I’m kind of an introvert.

I’ve always been the guy who prefers to stand at the edge of the party looking in rather than be the center of attention.

And my “outside-looking-in” tendency extends to other areas too. Like the way I think about marketing.

I’ve always been on the outside of the “marketing-think” community too. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that there are time-tested marketing truths. Rules you always have to respect. (You have to know the rules before you can bend them, as they say.)

And I’ve used pretty much every conventional method and channel you can name. I’ve used direct response strategies in the mail and online. I’ve bought newspaper ads. Radio ads. PPC ads. Facebook ads. I’ve used product launches. Marketing funnels. You name it, I’ve done it.

But at the same time, I’ve always kind of looked at all of it from the outside. I’ve always looked for ways to “crank up the heat”, so to speak, of all my marketing. Whether it was the one small tweak I could add that would add major dollars to my bottom line. Or testing an entirely new breakthrough marketing idea. Continue…

The answer to the cryptic title of this post is: They are all included in the video below… but more importantly, there are business and life related tips, hacks and stories that will show you:

• Why “working harder” isn’t great advice, and might actually do more harm than good,
• Why most of your competition are targeting low-hanging fruit, and how to feast from the top of the tree…. alone,
• How to achieve the seemingly impossible, over and over again.

I originally planned on writing a nice, long, article to share all of this… then I remembered that I already gave a 15 minute presentation sharing all of this and more.

So let’s start off with that short video, and then I will add some additional thoughts, ideas and suggestions to help you get even more out of it:

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Your eyes are stinging and bloodshot. Your brain has all but gone on strike.

You’ve just spent the last six, eight, maybe even twelve hours researching important data you need for a project. Or maybe you’ve been trying to learn the details of a certain strategy. Or the ins and outs of specific techniques for marketing your next launch.

The only problem is you can hardly remember anything you’ve read. And worse than that, the stuff you can recall seems to have no relation to anything you’re working on.

In fact, for a split second in time, you’re not even sure what you were working on in the first place.

Only one thing to do. Get some sleep and get back to more research in the morning. Continue…

A lot of entrepreneurs believe their performance struggles stem from “shiny object” syndrome. Getting distracted by the latest, greatest, newest, sweetest, whiz-bangiest whatever-it-is. But did you ever think a “shiny object” could actually be good for your business?

You know what… they actually can!

You just need to make sure of a few things first…

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