Tony Rush

Imagine that you’re invited to Las Vegas to the MGM Grand Hotel where there are 5,000 guest rooms.

The owner says to you, “Under one of the beds in the hotel, there’s a suitcase full of $1 million dollars.  All you need to do is to go into each room, look under the bed and — when you find it — it’s yours.”

On the surface, most people would say “Woo hoo!  I’ll do it.  And I’ll be a millionaire!”

But that’s not actually what would happen.

- Because some people would search a few hundred rooms and quit.
- Some people would whine about how the little plastic keycard doesn’t always work and they have to go back down to the main desk to get another one.
- Some people would complain that their back hurts when they bend over to look under the bed
- Some people will begin to wonder if they were scammed
- Some people will not bother to look in the first place because they don’t want their friends to laugh at them or to think they’re having money problems
- Some people will show up every once in a while and go through the motions, but they don’t really believe they’ll find it
- Some people will stand around in the lobby and the hallways for the social aspect
- Some people will whine and complain that they haven’t been properly trained on how to open the door
- Some people will spend all their time asking the hotel manager for advice and then ignoring it

And…

-  The people who persist in their goal will eventually learn little things that will make the task easier….they’ll find out ways to get things done faster….and they will eventually find the suitcase.

And when they do, many of the others will assume the person was “special” in some way.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Some people will read this story and think it preaches “blind perseverance”.  I”m not recommending that.  Use your head.  Know when you’re in a situation that isn’t  working for you and adapt accordingly.  Never give up on your dreams but you MAY need to change plans or financial vehicles every once in awhile.

But, the main point of the story is that everyone had the same opportunity to find the suitcase.  Some people might have some natural gifts or talents that let them find it more easily than others…but the suitcase is available to everyone.

So, yes, lots of times the biggest difference between the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS is that the ‘haves’ stuck around longer.

There’s more to this story…stick around for Part Two in which we’ll cover the difference between “persistence” and “too stupid to quit”…

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Ryan Deiss is a weasel.

Not really.  But he’s giving away a delicious little marketing technique that I’ve used for about two years and never taught.  Not because I wanted to keep it to myself….but because I intended to actually release a product of my own explaining how it works.

Because while everyone else was whining about Google slap and complaining about the cost of PPC marketing……I was using this little-known method to drive high-quality traffic to my site for pennies.

Even better, it’s almost like mind-reading.  It lets you ONLY run your ads to people who are actually THINKING about wanting what you’re offering.  It’s ingenious. You’re basically targeting your ads on the Google Content network to only show up for Gmail users.

As you know, Gmail users are served ads on the side of the screen based on keywords in their email.  When Google announced this back during the official launch of Gmail, some people were upset.  They said that it was “invasion of privacy”.  I guess they felt that Google had people actually reading their email and serving ads accordingly.  People on the other side of the argument said, “It’s no different than showing dog-training ads on a website where Google’s search engine spots the keyword “dog training”.

What do you think?  Is advertising on Gmail an invasion of privacy?  Or is it just smart marketing?

Comment below!

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This may not affect many of you who are network marketers but if you’re also selling any of your own products (ebooks, etc.) then you will want to be aware of it.

Some of you may have heard that the BBB, the FTC and VISA have started targeting businesses that use free trial offers that turn into paid subscriptions at the end of the trial period.

Let’s be clear about this.  There is nothing wrong with giving someone a free trial.  And there’s nothing wrong with telling someone that they have to cancel a service within X time period if they don’t want
to be billed.

The FTC agrees:  “Free trial marketing can be convenient for consumers — if the terms are spelled out beforehand,” said David Vladeck.  He’s the FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection.

The key point is in the latter half of his statement:  “if the terms are spelled out beforehand.”  As expected, it’s not the honest and ethical marketer who needs to be worried; it’s the shady marketer who’s got so little confidence in his/her own product that they feel like they need to “pull one over” on the customer.

Simply put, this FTC/BBB/VISA campaign is against companies who try to hide the terms.

For instance, in November, the FTC reached a settlement with a company called Commerce Planet.

What were they doing?  They offered a “free auction kit” that would teach them how to make money on sites like Ebay.  Commerce Planet was charged with accusations of “unclear information regarding the trial”.  By signing up for the “free online kit”, consumers were not clearly made aware that they were also signing up for a monthly fee of $59.95 for an “online supplier” program if they didn’t cancel within a few days of the order.

Bottom line:  these people SHOULD be getting some attention from the FTC.  Because there’s no excuse for not being completely up-front with your customer.

So, the bottom line is this:  if you’re selling a product, service or subscriptions, there’s nothing wrong with offering a free trial that turns into a paid subscription.  There’s also nothing wrong with opting someone into a paid subscription as part of a one-time purchase as long as they understand it.

But that’s the key, make sure they understand it!  Use video.  Use audio.  Make it clear to the consumer what the terms of the transaction are and you won’t have to worry about the FTC accusing you of trying to pull a fast one.

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Quick question: Are you building a list?

Some networkers look at me when I ask that question and say, “A list? A list of what?”

A list of people who want to be in communication with you. A mailing list. A prospect list.

Most aren’t.

See, most networkers do this: More >

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