There’s 2 ways that people sabotage their business:
1) Shelf Help. People buy courses, get coached, go to conferences, do absolutely nothing. The trouble with that is obvious.
2) “I’m not going to eat any more meat until I’ve finished all my vegetables.” This happens a lot. This story will explain what I mean:
When I was a b-r-a-n-d n-e-w marketer, wet behind the ears, I bought a couple of items from Dan Kennedy. A few months later he was promoting some sort of conference. He asked his newsletter subscribers: “If you’re not coming, why not???” He offered some kind of prize for the best answer.
Clever market research on customer objections.
I faxed him back and said, “I haven’t implemented all the stuff in your Magnetic Marketing System yet, so it makes no sense to spend even more money on education right now.”
I poked and prodded along. It took almost 2 years before I got myself to a live event, i.e. a “real” marketing seminar.
The IMMERSION experience – being with other marketing maniacs 18 hours a day – transformed everything I had *already* learned from black and white to color. It was an unbelievable experience.
Suddenly I caught a vision of where I needed to take my business – a vision I could have *never* caught at home, had I stayed on the “ration the information until you’ve applied everything” route.
I flew back to Chicago and created “DeviceNet Boot Camp” which became the #1 training workshop in my industry. I would have never gotten that idea from the course I already owned.
I started doing magazine publicity and direct mail. I got savvier about my employer’s website. We grew the company and sold it for $18 million, 2 years later.
You know what? I STILL did not and have not applied every possible thing I got in that Magnetic Marketing System 14 years ago.
But it doesn’t matter. Because from that point forward, my approach to learning has always been:
“PILE IT ON, BABY.”
I do not deny myself the opportunity to learn something new and important just because I didn’t do everything I learned yesterday.
Why punish yourself? You DO implement things. Honestly, if you only implement the best 10% – and the rest goes into your vast vault of “You never know when you might need this” – then not only does your game plan constantly adjust to the very best and latest intelligence available, you always have a backup plan too.
That’s 80/20 thinking applied to education. The “apply 100%” model is deadly.
One more thing: If I invest in education with a mentor and their advice really pays off – then I know there’s more where that came from. I buy everything they’ve got.
If you are in motion, if you’re not just sitting on your butt sucking your thumb…. if you’re doing stuff and not just sticking courses on the shelf, then please:
PILE IT ON, BABY. Stop starving yourself. Dig into that steak and enjoy it.
Perry Marshall
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
50 Comments on “2 ways people cripple their own success”
Perry,
Your 2nd way people cripple their own progress has my name,written in big bold letters,all over it.
I believe I have used your words verbatim in rationalizing why it is not a good time for me to take action,i.e.attend a seminar or buy one of your products.
As a result, I am in the same place now,7/13/2011, that I was in 2008 when I created a company to promote my writing career.
Thank you for being “the gadfly” I need.
Bit behind on my reply considering your email came out a couple of weeks ago but it has been churning around at the back of my head while I pondered the comments.
My question is if you implement the best 10% or an 80/20 view to education in the real world (note I said real world as I believe the theory world of school and university (in most cases – 80/20 again) all apply the 100% model) then how do you know what is the best part’s to learn and apply?
Is it based on what you’re needs are at the time – based on a deliberative process of how you can improve your situation/problem/project?
I guess in your instance with Dan Kennedy’s marketing seminar you didn’t know until you were actually knee deep into the belly of the beast that the picture became a little clearer – because you also had a change in perspective?
So it could be said there is value in an immersion experience for the education element AND the change in perspective – along with using 80/20 thinking applied to education for “bobseld run progression” in all aspects of life?
No matter the answer you can be assured I have thought very deeply about your post and you can be assured I will be using this filter as part of my learning and development for my personal and professional life in the future.
Thanks Perry
You have to use your best judgment and seek the best advice you can to pick that 10%. But the point is, you should never feel guilty for not doing everything you theoretically know how to do. You should, however, hold yourself to unswervingly executing that best 10%!
Jenny- Pardon My “jumping in” with Your questions & the issues that You’ve raised–too…
RE: “My question is if you implement the best 10% or an 80/20 view to education in the real world (note I said real world as I believe the theory world of school and university (in most cases – 80/20 again) all apply the 100% model) then how do you know what is the best part’s to learn and apply?”
#1 – GOOD QUESTION.
#2 – What–EXACTLY–IS “The Best 10%” to learn and apply?…There Are 2 “Secular” Ways To Look At This–
Trying To Look Forward–Into A Future That Hasn’t Happened Yet–Which IS Where You Are NOW…Trying To Guess WHICH WAY(s) Would Be The Best Way(s) To Go…
Looking Back–Which IS Where Perry IS NOW (Me too–As I’m SURE that I have at least another decade or more on Him)…With LOTS of Experience–And Experience Can Yield That Other Source of Wisdom–“20/20 Hindsight”…
HOWEVER–IMPORTANT NOTE: “Experience” and “20/20 Hindsight” Are NOT Guarantees of “Wisdom”…The History of All Fields of Study & Endeavor ABOUND With Stories of Ideas & Methods That Were WRONG–But Were Practiced–Never The Less…Because The Technology For Truer & More Precise&Respectful Ways&Means of Operating Had NOT YET Been Developed…or–Having Been Developed–“Powers That Be” Who Benefited From The “Old Ways of Doing Things” Applied Their Influence & Reach To Block & Otherwise Undermine The NEW Directions.
The Best Way To…as My Grandma used to say…”Put An Old Head On Young Shoulders”…IS To Look At Your Challenges From “The GOD Perspective”…
A “Popular Slogan” of 10 years ago or so was to tell Young People–When You find Yourself at a CrossRoads–Ask Yourself…”What Would Jesus Do?”
However–Before You Can Answer This Question–
You Have To Know…”What DID Jesus Do?”–
WHICH REQUIRES A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF:
Matthew, Mark, Luke & John–
Read IN ORDER…AND…
IN THEIR ENTIRETY.
(They’re NOT That Long…EZ Reading–NO DOUBT…
For The Readers at Planet Perry.)
America Was Founded–
And Has Been Repeatedly ReNewed…
IN CHRIST’S PRINCIPLES
[IMPORTANT NOTE: I DELIBERATELY Did NOT Write “Christian” Principles…As–Sadly–There IS OFTEN A GRAVE DISCONNECT Between–People Who Identify Themselves As Being “Christians” & People Who Live In “Christ-Like” Manners…As Gandhi DEMO’ed.]
With 20/20 Hindsight–Our Nation Now Reveres Abraham Lincoln As Being Our MOST Christ-Like of Presidents…tho’ during His Day–He was The MOST Reviled President–EVER–And Following His Assassination…tho’ The North May Have “won” The Civil War–The South WON The Post-Civil War Reconstruction…So that “Jim Crow” Forms of Slavery By Other Means…prevailed in the South for another century.
Read Perry’s OTHER Websites–I MOST Recommend Cosmicfingerprints.com
The UNIVERSE IS Sourced From GOD.
The UNIVERSE IS A Complex Place FILLED WITH ALL Types & Stripes of Intermingling…Levels & Dimensions & Nooks & Crannies & Fields & Forces & Infants & Grannies & Moms & Dads & Kids &…ALL THE Young Dudes & Dudettes…Trying To Find Their Way IN THIS HUGE & Ever-Shifting See of Humanity.
The “OLD” Way of Looking AT The World & Our Place IN IT–IS…
Life is A Race…
To Be WON By The Swift & The Strong…
Who Must Go Out Each & Every Day–
To Face & Beat Their Enemies IN Endless Competition For Survival.
Well…In Order To Survive We DO NEED To Have Our Minimum Requirements For Food & Clothing & Shelter & Hygiene Met–In A Timely Manner…
AND–In Order To THRIVE–We NEED To Have Our Requirements For Survival Met Dependably & In Ways & By Means That Offer A Sense of The Abundance & Joy of This World.
A LOT of “The Anxiety” suffered by Americans is a result of The Ideas That We’ve Been SOLD As To What Constitutes A Successful Life…as opposed to the lives of the Rest of US–Losers. One of the things that I love about “The King of Queens” show is how Refreshingly REALISTIC their home & home-life is…as opposed to the Glossy-Magazine-Photo-Shoot-Ever-Ready “Homes Beautiful” that are depicted in WAY TOO MANY of American TV Shows & Movies…or the Totally Unrealistic Expectations raised by Shows–such as The Brady Bunch–that families can find a live-in (and legal) “Alice” Housekeeper to selflessly–And Affordably–do MOST All of the Grunt Work of Raising a Large Family of Other Peoples’ Kids.
If You are able to support Yourself and Family with Honest Work–You Are A Success…And…One of The Best Definitions of “Honest Work” That I’ve Ever Encountered IS “The Four-Way Test” of Rotary International:
Of the things we think, say or do
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Mission
The mission of Rotary International is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/RotaryInternational/GuidingPrinciples/Pages/ridefault.aspx
Anyone with the “Eyes To See” will recognize Christ-like Principles in this “Test” and Mission Statement…Which ARE THOSE “Ever Ancient–Ever NEW” Ways of Looking At The World & Our Places IN IT.
We’re All Different & We’re All Here.
Your Talents & Skill Sets & Interests ARE DIFFERENT From My Talents & Skill Sets & Interests…AND…MANY TIMES–THE JOBS THAT REALLY NEED TO BE DONE–Aren’t The Ones That We Really Want To Do. This IS A BIG Dilemma–I’ve Found That I Can Usually Get My “Dream Job”…IF–I’m willing to work for little to no salary.
IF I want to be paid for My Work…THEN I have to be willing to do WhatEver IT IS–That Someone Will Pay Me To Do. I’m Lucky…In TOO MANY Parts of The World…We KNOW What The Only “Paid Work” For Women IS–And IT’S The Women’s “Handlers”…NOT The Women–Who GET The Pay.
Anyway–Christ-like Respect For…
All People At All Ages & Stages…AND For…
The Most Thoughtful / Least WASTEFUL or Polluting–
Use & Management of Resources…
THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN & WILL ALWAYS BE–
THE WAY TO GO FORWARD…
For Individuals…
Families…Communities…
Businesses…Nations…Our World…
Cheers -Mary
P.S.
Jenny–Don’t worry too much about finding “What You Want To Do”…Take A Look Around And Figure Out–WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE–THAT U HAVE THE STRENGTH & SKILLS & INSIGHTS & MOTIVATIONS To HELP Work With Others To Make A CHANGE! For The Better–AND…NOT TOTALLY LOSE Your Sense of Humor &/or Perspective…In The Process…Even If You Find That You DO–IN FACT–Have To Occasionally Lose Your Temper To Get The Job Done…After All–You’re Human–And We Humans Have Our Limits…but a charge of adrenaline at the right moments can help us to push thru to achievements that Most of US consider–IMPOSSIBLE MISSIONS…And Those Are Some of The Better Visions With Which American TV Shows & Movies Have Filled Our Minds.
P.P.S.
When I first started teaching Junior High School Science & Math…I felt like–NOT Only Did I NOT Have A “Bag of Tricks”…I didn’t even have a Bag.
A Good Education Teaches US Many…hopefully useful ??…Facts & Stories About Our World & How IT Works…or NOT…And How “Thangs” Got To Be THE WAY They Arrrr…Today.
A Good Education—-ALSO—-Hopefully Accelerates Our Ability To Process & Interpret & Apply Our On-The-Job “Experiences” After We’ve Formally “Graduated”…To LifeLong Learning…a.k.a. “Life”…for short.
You Know LOTS of Things—-
But When You’re Trying To Communicate—-
Time&Money ARE Limited—-
BOTH Yours AND Your “Listeners’/Viewers’”
To Make Your Points MOST EFFECTIVELY—-Your Must Limit Yourself To The MOST SIGNIFICANT 10% of All There IS That Could Be Said About…
Your “Topic”…
AND—-The MORE & More Thoroughly You Know Your “Topic” AND Your “Listeners”/“Viewers”—-The Better Your Options Will Be For Selecting That Most Crucial “Top 10%” of INFO For THEM…
So—-Sales Pitches Improve As Much—-IF NOT MORE—-As Your First-Hand Knowledge of Your:
“Product”/“Topic” + “Listeners”/“Viewers”
Improves…
As Well As Your Second-Hand Knowledge of Successful Ad Campaigns of:
Other Products x Other Advertisers
Expands.
As for the 80/20 School of Thought From A Teacher’s Point of View—-I Found That 80% of My Students “Got The Message” From 20% of My Efforts…While 20% of My Students Demanded 80% of My Attention…Because—-Of course…As a Teacher—-I had to Make Sure That 100% of My Students Were Taught To The Best of My Ability To Teach. In all honesty—-It probably was All My Efforts To Teach The “Challenging” 20% That Delivered MOST of The Lessons To The “Quiet” 80%.
Which School Turned Out To Be The Best Teaching Assignment For Me ??…
Why…The School With A Principle Who Took As Much Interest In Me & My Success…As I Was Being Asked To Take In Their Students—-of course !!
Thanks for that Perry – just what I needed. The ‘you haven’t implemented everything you learned last time’ is one of my favorite beat myself up lines.
I’m going to find a way of learning through immersion at a live event right now!
Eli
What an absolutely amazing and powerful article!
Whenever I buy something, or whenever someone buys something of mine, I always try to remind myself and my clients that “if you listen four times, you’ll still catch new ideas that didn’t hit you the first few times you listened,.”
The challenge is that people don’t like to re-hear what they have already heard- they’d rather hear something new and exciting, thinking that THIS (insert shiny object here) is the secret to success.
Live events don’t replace Books, tapes, and courses. at the same time, JUST live events with no firm background and bridges between events can be harmful as well.
I was at a seminar two week ago with Perry- at which the “VIP” crowd got the extra benefit of sitting at lunch with the presenters… and yet, how many people actually took advantage of that to sit with the speakers and pick the brains of experts non-stop the entire lunch hour? I only had 3 or four people over lunch both days that wanted to pick my brain (and go figure, several more who purchased consulting time at full fee afterward- when they could have at least spoken to me by lunch for a few minutes at no charge at all!)
Boggles the mind… you are already here, already paying extra, and not USING THOSE PRIVILEGES granted you to pick up some personal insight and advice from the very people you paid top dollar to listen to, front row seat?
Fantastic post!
Perry,
with my current income and successes I Hate to admit the number of Kennedy seminars I have attended, I met you years ago at a Kennedy seminar.spent over 6 figures on products books seminars.
Been reading at least 2 books a week on a multitude of different subjects copy writing, marketing,sales,SEO,internet Marketing,and still struggling with the whole putting it all together.
went through magnetic marketing more than twice,I am a high 6 figure income earner without the income.
I have done somethings with limited success but still have not found my place on this globe we are spinning on, not sure why I gave this long confession figured I like reading your posts and believe I am closer everyday.If you have any wisdom you would care to share I am at your attention…
Thank you for your insight
My best advice is, do the self evaluation at http://www.perrymarshall.com/1404/pink-koolaid/ and consider that you might be applying yourself in the wrong area. There’s a right one for you somewhere. I wish you the best,
Perry
2 ways people cripple their own success—
The Condensed Edition…
…PILE IT ON, BABY…
…Apply 100%” EFFORT To…
…80/20 thinking applied to education…
…PILE IT ON, BABY…
Stop starving yourself. Dig into that steak and enjoy it. I love your comments.
Reminds me of an analogy that I heard Years Ago…
Life is a Banquet…
That Most People Just Look At—
Malnourished…
tasting a few bits here & there…
While Referring To Those “Digging IN”…As…
OverReaching Pigs.
Thanks for this simple but brilliant email Perry, but here’s my sincere question to you: I think the ‘PILE IT ON’ process of on-going education can slow down ones implementation process, so how can this be avoided ? Thanks in advance.
Pile it on doesn’t mean listening to everybody. Pile it on means paying attention to 1-4 people – probably just two – and being willing to pay for their best content.
GOOD STRATEGY: Find ONE good teacher & buy everything they’ve got.
BAD STRATEGY: Find a dozen people and skim all their free content.
I just having trouble figuring who those 1-4 people are, Perry.
One more thought, isn’t there some level of doing that must be done before one is really ready to learn?
Of course, you always need to be doing. You just don’t have to do everything.
Would love to be able to apply 100% of what I read and learn from marketers such as yourself and Seth. If we all could, we would all be superstars.
Very nice; I hadn’t heard that contest idea from Dan before…!
This is good info Perry unfortunitely people expect business to automatically start itself.
I decide to get involved in a online business call
myself hand picking a good team of positive people
and once they enrolled paid their money just sat
ther and waited to see if money would come.
even though i explained this would take effort
they still didnt buldge. WOW! this story reminded me
of that business venture.
That makes sense. Will it work if you haven’t found or been able to commit to the right product or service yet? It’s driving me kwaaazy!
Thanks.
You can always find SOMETHING to sell someone, somewhere. You should be testing or researching but there’s no reason to sit on the sidelines.
Dear Judith,
Perry is right. I will add from the point of view of a beginner that you do need to focus on a product. It could be anything – shoe laces or pieces of metal for the railways. It doesn’t matter what it is, but take the idea and read everything of Perry’s in a light of selling your product.
I wanted to use P’s ideas to market my business as an interior decorator, and having stayed around a while, I know how to do it. In the mean time, I met a guy who had a good idea and had gotten as far as getting it in production. He was fed up, and I am not someone to look for the flaws in his argument.
Just start looking – that is all it takes.
Good Afternoon Perry,
The 100% rule went the way of the dinosaur years ago, and the 80/20 rule became dominant in my online business activities.
If I come accross something that applies to my lead generation activities, I go for it and let my tracking stats tell me if I’m on the right track; shedding the dead weight and keeping and expanding upon the winners.
As a result, the Dilbert Cube became extinct in my world in October of 2009.
Thank you for helping to push me in that direction. :)
Best Wishes Always,
Felix
Somewhere between wanting to know everything and being overwhelmed by that next shiny thing lies action. Most people including myself keep looking to acquire that missing piece of the puzzle- when all along that missing piece is yourself.
I’m a happily married guy, but I’ve got to say…”I love you, man!”
Not just for this post, but for all the great stuff you put out. You’ve risen to be at the very top of the few people I pay attention to any more (and those were culled from scores (hundreds?) of people over the years.)
I do agree that it is necessary to differentiate between “always be learning…never implementing” mode and what you are talking about here.
I’m proud to say that I’ve moved beyond the never implementing mode, but I have been stuck in the guilt for not taking action on more of what I know.
I’ve been trying to picture it as an ever expanding toolbox that I can call on when I need to, but still am not always successful doing that.
This post helps. Thank you, for everything.
Can’t wait to get further into Planet Perry, and really working on getting to Maui next year.
Scott
P.S. Funny – while listening to iTunes in shuffle mode, one of the groups you recommended to me a while back (Porcupine Tree) came on. Out of 2,500+ songs – the universe is pretty cool sometimes…
Thanks for this mention of Porcupine Tree–Scott–I’d never heard them before–and they’ve put out some potent stuff.
After viewing their “Fear of a Blank Planet” on YouTube…I had to reach over to “Santana – Soul Sacrifice” for an Antidote.
Great way to get people to convince people to buy more of your products and services, Perry. But wat about learning from ones own experiences? Can you write a newsletter on that and how to do that best? You obviously figured out how to do that as well. Or is the answer to that question also to buy more of your products? (That wouldn’t even be such a bad answer but I’m sure you can do better than that.)
Learning from your own experiences is great, as long as it’s not failures. If it’s failures I’d rather learn from someone else. Life is too short to ignore other peoples’ experience.
Peter- The comments that I posted to Matt–just above You @ 11:44–DITTO 4U.
-Mary
Taking action and actually shipping clearly matters most.
However, I notice that the networked nature of learning means that new connections are exponentially powerful (if implemented). When I started learning about the many topics involved in internet marketing, a lot of it didn’t make much sense. I went through courses that didn’t yet apply to where I was at with my online activities at the time. I used some things and saved others for later.
But cumulatively, all that learning is present in everything I now know how to do. 80/20 is a great way to think of the process of continually learning. Hadn’t connected it to the learning process in quite this way. Thanks for that insight.
Matt- I try to–as much as possible–let people Know if/when I either “speak” about them…or…borrow Their Comments to post elsewhere.
Dude–I posted some of Your statements over on Perry’s “The Roundtable Chronicles for May 27, 2011” Letter today.
-Mary
As always excellent advice. Thanks Perry
Wow – this message really hit home. I’ve often denied myself buying some really good stuff from Perry just because I was waiting to apply something else I had learned somewhere else. And that 80/20 rule is so true… not just in business, but in everyday life — at least, that’s been my experience. Paz!
It is always easier to find your way if you have map or guide to show you and immersion is the ultimate learning experience. It is the difference between reading about swimming and getting in the water, there simply is no comparison.
i am one who tjought this way all along – doing the whole 9 yards of a course before moving on. But you never really complete it. success does not wait.
Thanks for the realistic actions suggestion.
The 80/20 rule.
God bless you.
Over the years I spent a considerable amount of time and money and DOING ($16,000 and a years worth of time in one case) on EXPERTS and/or their material that would turn my business around.
I haven’t seen the turnaround. Funny, not one of them could tell me WHY I am not doing well. I read, I implement, I try.
Yet, here I sit still struggling. Sorry, not buying the 80/20 or “if you implement 10%…” scenario.
@Bryan,
Harv Eckert would say “If you’re trying and failing, it’s because there’s something you still haven’t learned, applied or figured out.”
It might be so basic that “advanced” mentors don’t even think to mention it, since it’s long become automatic for them.”
On the original topic, I also work constantly to balance my time between learning new things and actually implementing. There’s far more danger in becoming an education junkie getting distracted by every shiny new toy at the expense of actually getting things done.
It’s a fine line between eating your vegetables and jumping up to learn Thai cooking before even starting to eat your first home-cooked meal. However, I’d overwhelmingly agree that attending a LIVE PERSON event is always worth the price of admission, particularly if implementation isn’t your strong suit.
It’s impossible to walk away from seeing energetic, successful people (there’s *always* some of them present) without feeling energized/motivated/flat-out guilty about not doing some in-the-trenches work yourself.
Cheers,
Chris
True, but…
There is a difference between buying course after course and bouncing around and never really implementing them VS. getting a course, implementing, succeeding, moving to next traffic source and repeating.
You have said become an expert getting traffic in some form, then broaden from there (paraphrased of course).
I’ve stopped buying courses as because I need to implement what I have…and make money.
That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t/won’t go to a seminar, but I don’t need another dang course right now.
John, I used to think the same thing, then I did some research on my own list of buyers and those who were in my private coaching group.
Here’s what I discovered.
Those who were the most successful and had a growing business, bought the most stuff.
You could see their progression in purchases and business growth.
Funny thing is those who had declining businesses, reached a point of “I don’t need anymore stuff to do ism.” The moment they made that statement, their business started to decline.
This is based on over 350 people in my own private client group.
Matt,
I understand what you’re saying. And I agree with it too. But I’m not sure this proves Perry’s point.
That’s because you can’t be certain which way the cuasality runs.
I don’t have as many clients as you. But for what it’s worth, I’ve noticed the same i.e. those clients of mine which invest the most in my products and services also seem to be prospering the most.
It’s therefore easy to get into thinking that the reason they’re prospering is because they’re investing in my stuff.
But surely it could just as easily be the other way around:
The reason they’re investing more is because they’re prospering.
I’m no expert, but I understand causality is a major problem in statistical analysis – it takes a lot to prove it is running in one direction rather than the other.
Don’t get me wrong – I actually thoroughly agree in what both you and Perry are saying (see my post above).
But I was having exactly the same thought myself about my own clients and then I realised I might just be reading things the wrong way around.
Based on my own experiences though, my gut feeling is that what you’re saying is the RIGHT way around. That’s more because of my own experiences rather than what I can see from the behaviour of my clients though because I think there are too many other variables which contribute into how well their businesses are doing.
An information junkie and an obsessive perfectionist who can never do anything new are brothers of the same mother. They might look different as chalk and cheese but both face the same issues at the end of the day- they can never ship.
As the Buddha says, the middle path is the best- suck up information and then push out your output, warts and all. And thanks, Perry, for pointing out this so beautifully
How true, I went through a phase many years ago of being content to absorb the knowledge my friends had acquired from their experiences at various self improvement, management or marketing seminars. Then convinced that there was more to gain by investing my time and money in training, I graduated to buying CDs and how to books by various acclaimed management gurus. However, when I attended an actual seminar it became evident that I had missed out a vital ingredient in my pursuit for knowledge – the unexpected little gems that tend to crop up at a live event which trigger those light bulb moments you alluded to.
Perry,
I couldn’t agree more. About 6-9 months ago, I got stuck thinking “I’ve got this whole load of stuff I should have implemented by now and I’m not gonna take any more advice or even try to learn anything new until I’ve done it ALL”.
I was so committed to this, I even stopped opening and reading your Renaissance newsletters (which I obviously actually pay for) and decided to back them up until I’d ‘done what I needed to do’.
That’s because I generally get even more ideas from your newsletters and they make me feel even worse about how much I HAVEN’T implemented.
Then you actually sent an email or hinted at something very similar to what you’ve said here.
So I took you up on that and decided to give myself 20-30 minutes each day when I would start working through my big drawer of ‘as-yet-undigested’ marketing info.
Within about a week, something that was said on one of your CDs pointed out a HUGE oversight I was making in my whole approach. I realised I’d been ignoring something really big and I didn’t have a plan for putting it right.
I won’t go into exactly what it was – the ‘big thing’ will probably be different from person to person.
But you’re right – that’s exactly why you’ve got to keep piling it on because there will probably be something in all that information which will make what you’re trying to do 10 times easier.
You are spot on as always, Perry.
Hey, Perry, that was an excellent article! It is easy to understand…but it is still difficult, I feel, to ascertain just when you might be sabotaging yourself by trying to complete something. I think the key is to consider what you have said…but to make sure you are really putting the stuff into action, and learning from it.
how much time should i invest in learning and how much on doing?
this is the question that i ask myself a lot.
and it was great to see you here in Israel Perry
hope to meet again in Maui
Dear Meni,
if there is one thing I have learned from Perry, it is that learning and doing are the same thing!
He is always saying to put what you know into action, and let the results speak for themselves. That way you aren’t really learning from him, but from your own experience. He’s got so much experience of this that it sounds as if he is a real expert on this simple aspect.
But Perry *is* an expert – which means that he has taken this thinking into the stratosphere. That is a whole different ball game.
Do the basics and learn by your mistakes. Everyone has done it. And all have made mistakes.
Does this help?
that is a great way to look at both things.
because most people just learn and learn all the time
and almost do nothing with what they know.
knowing without doing is meaningless.
“doing is learning” is the best way to make good things happen.
but sometimes i think that maybe i should take one year off conventions and seminars and just sit down and do what i know without interaptions.
I do not suggest that approach. Never met anyone who finished their year of taking a hiatus from education whose business had grown. Instead what you do is you put a space in your calendar, lock yourself in a room and schedule your implementation time just like you’d block off a seminar.
Great idea Perry! I did that same thing (albeit not to grow a business but to pass a professional exam) and saw great results. I could not travel out of town for the Exam content seminar, so I treated it like I was going to one anyway and blocked off that weekend and taught myself in a seminar format and I think it was ten times better for me than had I gone away…this time!
Here I am again, Perry!
Enjoying your stuff as ever. I have been around a while, but not concentrating on advertising until now. I just thought I would give it a real go – and an opportunity falls into my lap.
Given that I haven’t spoken to the inventor for more than an afternoon, I started doing what – I can’t remember his name – tried doing by testing marketing targeting someone else’s website … so I have put up a starter trial and have after two days … 190 viewings.
Big deal!
Okay, but it can only get better and when I get a little more time I will do some more serious tweaking on the keywords and see what changes. Given that I am bidding between €0,01 and €0,10 it isn’t going to cost me much, yet.
But without your encouragement I would be nowhere. That and the content of your emails ensures a read even if they are not acted upon. With an advertising budget of €23,50 per month I am not getting to Maui until next year :-)
Gem xx xx
I love the 80/20 rule applied to learning.
Actually I never thought of it like that.
I often felt guilty about buying stuff and not applying 100%. I would beat myself up.
Dennis in Denver
couldn’t agree more mate. currently i am reading and attempting to digest:
*Permission marketing by Seth Godin – having read just about everything else by him
*Your emails – one a day
*Chris Cardell’s emails / DVDs from last year’s ‘summit’
*Marketing / business biograhpy audio books
my wife’s getting pretty bored with my relentless regurgitating from these various sources, but i’m definitely learning.
keep up the goo work!
bests, Tom