It was a beautiful Indian summer morning here on September 11 when Al Qaeda decimated the World Trade Center in New York City – and the entire world was plunged into chaos. I remember where I was, you remember where you were.
What I remember is going outside during those next few days (I lived halfway between Midway and O’Hare airports in Chicago), and seeing and hearing no airplanes in the sky. The silence was eerie…
The eerie feeling didn’t go away. The phones stopped ringing at work (I was in charge of inside sales) it was as though the entire industrial market had just stopped cold. Sales dropped precipitously. Also, at that very moment we were in the quiet period that precedes a company buyout that had been many months in the making.
An agreement had already been reached between Synergetic’s investors and Lantronix Inc. to buy us out. They were going to give me my stock options and as of October 18th, 2001, I would have a new employer, if I accepted their job offer. I could stay along with the new company, I just needed to agree to keep some of those options tied up for awhile.
That looked very, very attractive, considering the silent Chicago air space and the silent phones. Quit my job in the midst of that kind of uncertainty? You’d have to be crazy to walk away from a good job in such circumstances. That’s what my co-workers told me.
But my wife, Laura (thank God for her) had different ideas. Laura said, “Perry, if you’ve ever had a chance to strike out on your own, this is IT. I think you should bail.”
…She had more confidence in me than I did. Still, I needed a sanity check, some additional confirmation. So I went to a mastermind group I’d had the foresight to form 2 years earlier – I’d formed it before I really “needed” one.
The members of my group saw things much, much differently than my co-workers did.
One Guy – John LaTourette, whose nickname in Martial Arts is “Quick Kill” – wrote me this note:
“Perry,
Take it. Enjoy it.
Your “old” company is gone whether you believe it or not.
I’ve sold three businesses in the past.
I had feeling’s about all of them.
On the first one, I hung on attempting to help.
It just hurt to see them doing “real stupid” stuff.
I got all my money, but eventually they did go under.
The same with the 2nd business.
They bought it, then destroyed it.
The same with the 3rd business. I got my money.
They changed all sales and marketing strategies after I was paid off.
They are now in the tiolet, but have not yet been flushed.
It could happen at any time.
Cut you emotional ties. Count your money.
Then decide what you want to do next.
It’s sort of like getting divorced.
It’s better to date someone new and different than worry about the “old” wife that is now no longer in your life and you’ve no real “hook-ups” with them.
Or, stay with them and suffer. Oops. Just joking.”
John
One gal – Suzy Seay, a financial planner, said, “Perry, you’re so gifted, you have so much to offer the world. The fact that “most folks aren’t risking new ventures right now” means there is great opportunity out there. It’s not as risky as you think – but you won’t be able to see it clearly until you take the leap.”
To a person – with absolute unanimity – they said,
“Perry, take the money and RUN, RUN, RUN.
Get OUT and GET OUT RIGHT NOW.”
Let me tell you what happened next…
I told my boss I was not going to accept the job. He tried to talk me into staying, but I held firm. He then became very stern and informed me that I was to immediately clean out my desk and leave the premises.
He appointed someone to watch me clean out the desk, to make sure I didn’t steal anything (!) and I was ushered to the door. Just before I walked out onto the parking lot, my boss’s wife Gaye gave me a little hug and wished me well. I felt glowering eyes on my back as I walked out.
I got in my car and as I drove out, took pause to notice “My job in my rear view mirror for the last time.” The phones at work hadn’t been ringing, but my home phone started ringing.
People in my industry, who had always known me as “the Synergetic guy” wanted to know what was up. They would say, “Well I wanted to let you know we’ve got a position opening up and I wanted to see if you’d like to interview for it?”
It was going to take awhile before those stock options came through, and money would be tight for awhile, but I said, “My back isn’t against the wall and I’m keeping my options open. Rather than getting into an employment situation, why don’t we work on a project together and get to know each other?”
I converted job offers into part-time consulting assignments.
Replaced my income in 19 days!
Joy.
Elation.
A Certain Serenity, A Feeling Of Having Crossed A Huge Chasm.
After 11 Years Of Bitter Struggle, The Realization Of A Dream.
I can’t begin to tell you how exhilarating, how quietly energizing it felt to know I’d finally escaped the rat race. It was almost surreal to wake up at seven thirty or eight or eight-thirty or nine in the morning, and instead of slogging through 18 miles of traffic, to go downstairs to my musty little basement office (with the washer and dryer puttering away in the corner) and know that I was in business for myself, after all those years of sweat and anticipation and mostly disappointment.
To turn on Mozart (or Marillion) and work on marketing projects uninterrupted for hours at a time, to see the sunlight streaming through the window instead of buzzing fluorescent lights. Unafraid that my phone-extension was going to ring and I was going to get summoned to someone’s office to get interrogated about something or some rumor that was floating around.
And the last 10 years has been a dream.
I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow.
But today – can you tell me YOUR Dilbert Cube escape story?
Has Planet Perry helped you earn YOUR freedom?
I wanna hear about it……. post your comments below.
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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.
60 Comments on “My Dilbert Cube Escape Story – And Yours”
Perry,
Some 6 years ago the time came to bail out of the cube and jump into my new business with both feet. Even with a technical background I had no experience with on-line marketing. I paid a company six grand to SEO my “Rev 1” website. They took every penny and provided nothing of any value whatsoever. THAT’s when I said, “ok time to dig in and get educated. My first major epiphany came after the discovery of Perry Marshall and the Definitive Guide to AdWords. It changed everything. The education is on-going as it will always be. Hey, I’m just getting warmed up…
Thanks for everything!
Peter
Hi Perry,
Around 3-4 years ago I started an online business (on the side of my job). I also started ravenously devouring as much information about marketing and more specifically online marketing as I could get my hands on. This is when I started learning from you.
To cut a long story short, I went full time with the business 1 year ago and am now very happy with the results.
I’d say that 80% of my success is down to the stuff I’ve learnt from you. (I initially signed up to a million and one email newsletters, the vast majority of which turned out to be complete garbage compared to your material. So I unsubscribed from all of them apart from yours a few others.)
You’ve helped me become my own boss and for that I extremely grateful.
It’s weird that you are the nearest thing I have to a mentor and I’ve not so much as emailed you before, let alone have we spoken or met!
Having said that I will meet you when I attend Maui next year, when I hope to take things to the next level.
In summary – you are awesome!
Thanks,
Stewart
PS. The extended version of this story is alot more interesting but I don’t have the time to write it out here!
Great to hear from you, can’t wait to meet you in Maui!
It was October of 2004. I was an IT guy for a biotech company… tweaking and customizing the SAP installation to do what they wanted it to do.
My cube mate walked into the office one morning rambling on about some amazing device that had some amazing results in one of his hobbies.
I had just been to Ken McCarthy’s seminar in Chicago…for a year I had been dreaming big about making a living on the Internet. I had a few SEO affiliate sites working, almost paying the mortgage. I forked over a few grand to make the trip.
Saw Perry speak…Ken Giddens… Mendocha. The world opened up. I read every old school direct response marketing book…in fact, I haven’t stopped reading about all things marketing SINCE that seminar.
I thought, wow…amazing device, I bet I can market this sucker! Found supplier. Called supplier. Got my price. Wrote and rewrote a sales letter probably 2 dozen times.
Got a sale.
Was summoned into my managers office…the IT staff is going to be moving from sunny California to Maryland. Option for 6 month severence to cut ties…or move to Maryland.
The choice was obvious. I made a sale. I was pumped.
Over the next 6 months, from that sales letter, I grew that business so it supported my then girlfriend and I.
Got married. Started ANOTHER business in another unrelated niche. A $300 home study course. Started running that business in parallel. 1 sales letter. Autoresponder. And a backend product. Simple.
Continued to grow both businesses to a combined 1 million in sales…keeping about 40% of that before taxes.
I’ve come a long way, and I haven’t looked back, though I do miss the camaraderie (too lazy to spell check that) of co-workers.
Along the way, there are only a few educators that have floated to the top for me. I don’t pay attention to anyone else…
Time is too precious.
Perry, Dan Kennedy… hmmm. Maybe it’s just down to 2 now. Of course, there’s all those old books…and endless new ones to devour.
Anyway, thanks Perry. I listen to every call, read every newsletter, and read every email. Just a quiet guy listening in, but I had a glass of wine tonight, and just had to say thanks for your inspiration.
You’ve had a big hand in directing some of my most important decisions.
I’ll float back into the shadows now.
Thanks again!
Dan
Dan,
This is a GREAT story!!! It just feels so…. familiar. Discovering that product and marketing it, that’s something anybody could do and it doesn’t take a huge amount of capital. Plus you’re working within a niche and within your expertise so it’s hard for people to knock you off.
Bravo.
Perry
Perry, my fellow drummer and passionate entrepreneur…
You’ve already heard my story at the webinar we did together last month (http://www.modernbusinessowner.com/blog/i-am-the-biggest-fool-around/)
Just wanted to say that hearing your “Pink Kool-Aid” story on the Autorepsonder DVD course was part of what inspired me to write that letter – the one your heard – entitled “I Am The Biggest Fool Around”.
And sharing my story publicly with a room full of of other entrepreneurs has led to some amazing things. First of all, a substantial amount of personal healing in my own life. That’s invaluable.
Secondly, the outpouring of support and “Hey, that’s just like me too!” stories I’ve receive from anyone who has read / watched “I am the Biggest Fool Around”, has been amazing. Your leadership in sharing your story, inspired my own leadership in my community and circle of entrepreneurs. Wow.
I’m in the BSR with you right now, and – yup – it’s a vertical learning experience.
Looking forward to all the exciting experiences that lie ahead!
Onwards and Upwards,
Tim :)
P.S. Ken Jurina (Epiar) was actually booked to come to you and I’s webinar last month, then had to cancel at the last minute. He says Hi!
That was fun. We’ll do something with that story. Healing is great isn’t it? Say hi back to Ken for me…..
I’ve been in and out (mostly out) of the cube since 2005.
I would like to say that I am doing well on my own but for years, I drank the MLM Kool-Aid and you know how that ended. I tried many different programs trying to get the MLM thing to work but only ended up frustrated and deep in debt.
But there is good news. I have a new business now. A real one. I am implementing all the things I learned over the years and things are starting to pay off.
I have your Adwords book on my desk and starting next week, I will have my PPC campaign up and running. I’ll have to let you know how things go in a few months when I have some numbers.
Thanks for all of the valuable information that you share with us. I really do appreciate it. I just wish I had read your Amway story a few years ago. It sounded just like mine, a different MLM company but the same story, it just took me a while to give up the Kool-Aid.
Sometimes it takes awhile for some of us to pick up on stuff, it took me about six years :^>
Hey there, Perry.
Well, you know my story already: I hated being a teacher in the classroom, so I escaped. I scraped a living together by consulting for a textbook company. I was 27 years-old. All other consultants had been retired teachers of 30+ years. I was swimming upstream, but made it work because I HAD TO.
While consulting, I listened to a gazillion podcasts (most of them yours), wrote my book, and eventually saved enough pennies to join Bobsled. The rest has been documented a couple times in Planet Perry recently.
It’s the simple things that make it fun and we had a great victory just today. But first, the short back-story: Brian (my husband) quit his teaching job in June and declared his official title as “Director of Fun.” (This is how he signs business registration and bank forms ’cause “VP” sounds so boring.)
Yesterday, my Director of Fun secured Tiger baseball playoff tickets -and a babysitter- at the last minute. We headed downtown on a lovely fall evening to enjoy the sights and sounds of baseball in beautiful Downtown Detroit.
The Tigers won and we had a blast! But, we got home very, very late and were in pain as we got the kids ready for school. It would be a looooong day. Or not.
Instead, we applied 80/20 (courtesy of Planet Perry) and did top 20% of the things on our to-do list for the day. Then, took a 3-hour nap. As we were dozing off, I started to ask a question, but couldn’t even finish the first syllable as Brian answered emphatically, “YES! This definitely beats being at school!”
Forever grateful for all of the knowledge and Wisdom…
Susan
I did the Dilbert Cube thing for 30 years in an electronics company. Started as an electronics tech at $3.30/hour and finished as an engineer/senior tech writer (20 yrs) getting $75K/yr. $3.30 times inflation plus 15% is 75K and folks think engineers are highly paid.
I was. I was working about 2-4 hrs/day, holding a chair down the rest of the time. I got in a manager’s face who worked at a different site. Told her to get done what needed to be done and quit whining about not having time and resources (the problem was competence (or lack of it). She wanted me punished for being a poor team player.
The Good Lord told me to look at my retirement fund after my boss asked me to please not say what I said in e-mails. She couldn’t defend it in salary ranking meetings. I did. He asked, “What can you do with that?” after reminding me I wasn’t making good use of my time and talents.
I was designing online help for all of the software being created by 22 staff engineers at the time. In 2-4-hour days!
One of those engineers asked me if I knew I was leaving “some mighty big BOOTS for somebody around here to fill.”
I retired at age 55 in 1999. Friday the 13th (Aug). My replacement was an MIT grad with a computer science degree. A year later they wanted me back. He and two other full-time people couldn’t get the job done on time, just like 6 years earlier when it took 10 full-time people to replace me. A year later an old boss of 10 years challenged me: “Come on, you have a price. What would it cost us to get you back in here?” YESSSS!!!!! If you leave, leave a hole. :-)
I’d been a circle-drawer for years but didn’t see the big bucks, though I’ve never regretted it because it helped me overcome being so introverted. Tried a couple of other businesses but the money wasn’t there either. Lost all of my retirement thanks to the liars on Wall Street (company was fined $200M by feds for investor fraud).
Then on August 02, 2007, a guy named Levis had a teleseminar with some guy named Marshall. Those teleseminars Daniel hosted were a huge help.
But I’ve always appreciated greatly the many missives I got from you over the years since then. I’m a late bloomer, but it’s getting better. Persistence overcomes all. Got the house out of foreclosure, barely keeping it out, but things are improving.
Big challenge now is staying focused on what needs to be done, then doing it. Years of being on top of the pay curve with only 30 hrs/week on the job creates some sloppy habits.
Appreciate you a bunch!
And your Cosmic Fingerprints is Fabulous!
Clarke
Clarke,
Great to hear your story!
I am right now planning my escape. I had a fantastic work from home job that gave me all the freedom in the world, but it was for a company in another country. When their currency vs ours went way down, I found I was dipping into my mortgage every month to make ends meet. So I found another job with more money, but after all that freedom I absolutely hate it – being told what to do, when I can take lunch, etc, etc.
I recently made another large dip into my mortgage and have invested in a business which I will run on the side until it makes enough money for me to resign. When that day comes I will be the happiest person alive!
You have to think of your life as if it were a matrix – yeah it’s funky math but it drives the point home. In my own personal matrix, here is what I have done:
1. I did not specialize but tended to be a generalist – more variables, more employers, more opportunity = a bigger matrix than most people
2. I kept learning new skills. Hard skills as an engineer, tradesperson and technologist. Soft skills including project and leadership. A slightly bigger matrix
3. I learned other skills that complemented my education: toastmasters, accounting, mortgage brokering, finance and banking, and loans. In the process I also became a marriage commissioner. Let’s add some additional dimensions to the matrix.
The reason a lot of people get themselves into trouble is that they do one of two things:
1. They oversimplify their lives too much and make their matrix so small that one or two external influences can have ENTIRE control over it.
2. They make their matrix too big to manage effectively and scatter their energies.
The key is balance. Your methods have this as an underlying theme and it really hit home this weekend when I bought your basic Adwords course.
Once you have achieved a good balance of your own Matrix, you can effectively plan your escape in a controlled manner – similar to a classical music piece where each member of the orchestra would finish his/her part, blow out their candle, and then exit the stage. By the time the audience of patrons had figured it out, everyone was gone. I cannot remember the name of the piece or its composer but this piece of music drove the point home that they were overworked, needed a holiday, and this was the only way they could get it.
Hi Perry,
The comments from your “followers” is very inspiring. I’m 67 and still trying to pay off my home and I’ve no superannuation for my retirement if I ever do get there.
I’ve been getting you emails for some time now, but I unfortunately have been distracted by other stories nor had teh cash to invest in any of your teachings. I’ve been in PC’s since the days of CPM, but my true love is photography (learnt my trade in the RAAF) but everywhere I go they say its very hard nut to crack, to earn a comforatble living from. I should follow your “believers” and escape from my self created CUBE.
Its all in the mind (my self imposed limitations) I need to read your books, but I’ve just joined with my wife in helping her to expand her business. So here goes.
Regards
Norm Ford
I’m still in the cube as far as internet Marketing goes, but your Marketing Info has been helpful in my off-line Home Services business. Thanks!
Hi Dear Perry,
You made Heart To Heart, You got me.
That I felt we are harmony, I had good time and bad time. I struggling along in my entire life, If I want to tell my story I need 8 hrs to finsh. I Was runing my own business for a short of time, Unfortunate I was fail. I always thought how can I make Big money? even now! Thank You for the passed few months that you had advice me and support, And encouragement, I will never forgot.
Henry,
Best of success to you in your endeavors.
Perry
I never had a Dilbert Cube – thanks to Perry, all I’ve known is Planet Perry.
I first read his book as I was interning with a startup in 2004 – when I was graduating in 2005, I wanted to do digital marketing – and there were no interesting companies in Singapore (Plus, I had a huge ego – thanks Perry :P).
So, I decided to startup being a freelance consultant. My business was placed completely on Perry’s model – consulting on Google AdWords accounts. It was liberating, freeing and oh-so-awesome.
It was also terrible for business, because blindly following someone else’s business model (in a different continent) was a quick recipe for mediocrity.
And there was a 4 year journey of self-hate where revenues were stuck at 30k/year and I spent most of my time “growing” through self development courses(Perry’s “growing” was in his Amway days, I guess).
Finally, things clicked into place years later – I got one business partner, then some employees – now getting more people in the team.
Turning that freelance consultant into an actual business that makes money and pays out salaries.
Still far from the goals, but I hit $250k last year (and on track to hit about $400k this year). It sure is a long long way from being a student intern dreaming of owning an empire.
And it’s all thanks to Planet Perry – it’s the only email list, I’m still subscribed to after all these years. Wasn’t always a regular Mastermind member, but I did go through the Bobsled Run (that was totally awesome) and one day soon – want to do a private consultation when I grow big enough.
Thank you for packing up and leaving with your boxes that day in 2001 Perry, your drive changed my life too.
Congrats on your fab success story!
I’m still in the cube, but that’s by choice. My wife and I have decided that I’ll work for one more year, and we’ll pay off the house before I quit. It sucks for now, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.
I went from fumbling around and throwing money away with adwords to 6 figures in sales in our first year. A 4 man intensive put a little more juice into it, and a bobsled run right now is helping further. We’re expecting to double our sales next year. Then the sky’s the limit.
Thanks for everything, Perry.
Great to hear from ya! You’ve got some coaching calls you still haven’t cashed in on, so claim ’em when you’re ready. Congrats on getting financially solid, few people do that.
Whenever I want to really impress someone in the internet marketing world, I may say something like “it’s a toss up whether I’ve paid Perry Marshall more or he’s paid me more” and grin.
I voluntarily left my Dilbert job. I had been working for over 17 years for the government, running a very special nuclear reactor used to create test environments for weapons. The bureaucracy had gotten to the unbearable level. In the fall of ’99 I decided it was enough. At the age of 44 I left a very high paying job with awesome benefits to work with my wife in her real estate business. We knocked it out of the park for a few years, then in 2004, we divorced.
I turned 50 with no job, some money in the bank, and too old to be hired back into my particular trade. After a year or so trying to make a living trading stocks, the reality of possible bankruptcy set in. To make matters worse, I had a son I loved dearly who was rapidly approaching college age. Talk about stress!
An old friend from the navy convinced me to go to a internet marketing seminar in San Diego, my first exposure to guru’s! :-(
I struggled for a couple more years, and finally realized that they were all selling something too closely related to info marketing. Making money from other people desperate to find a way to survive is not something I am willing to do to pay my bills.
During this guru phase, I did manage to pick up some worth while lessons in SEO. I also picked up a copy of Perry’s Adwords Guide. I immediately realized that Perry was a lot different than all the flakes that I had given way too much of my money too. I was learning things from Perry that could be used for real businesses of any size and type. I knew that if I was going to be comfortable making money with the internet, I had to be creating real value in the process. Otherwise, I was destined for a job in a hardware store somewhere, LOL.
Today I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and I know it’s not an on coming train, it’s income! While I’m not knocking it out of the park yet, I have several very happy clients and my passive commission based income from work with a local manufacturer is growing steadily. Even better, his business has grown so much over the last two years that he is buying a new building, driving the local economy with remodeling work, and hiring new employees to fulfill his expanding market. That is something worth while! He’s also going to give me free office space so I can get out of the house once in a while, I love that.
I am convinced that had I not encountered Perry’s Adwords material, my SEO skills would not have been enough to break through the fog. Perry’s value goes way beyond Adwords of course. Recently, I began studying his Swiss Army Knife concepts (I owe you a review of that Perry!) This is a great example of Perry’s out of the box thinking applied directly to marketing. I highly recommend it.
On a side note, I taught my now college freshman son how to create simple web sites for local business and use Adwords to generate leads for them. He picked up one client, who after seeing his first report on his Adwords campaign, thought there was a problem. Prior to a meeting with the client, my son was worried he might lose the business. The problem was his Google bill had gone down. He figured this meant my son had screwed up and lost traffic to his site.
His account had been set up by Google, he had no clue what was going on. He was paying $6 – $7 dollars per click with a daily budget set at $10. Great campaign there Google! In less than two months, my son had doubled his traffic, and reduced his Adwords bill. His average CPC is about $1.50 now. He’s a happy client.
My son has two part time jobs, one as a bus boy at a restaurant making $6.25 an hour. The other is making $40 an hour for a few local clients working from his Macbook in his apartment. Which do you think he likes best?
I owe you a huge debt Perry. One that I likely will never be able to repay. Although they don’t know it, several business owners here in Albuquerque should be grateful as well. If not for you, I wouldn’t have the skills to make their internet marketing efforts a success.
For those of you who have not made it yet, all I can say is don’t give up! It is possible to make it work if you keep at it.
Great story, Steve. Thank you!
Your welcome Perry. I have a new goal, Maui! I’m confident I’ll see you there in another year or so. :-)
Hi Perry,
I’d love to share my Dilbert Cube escape story, but the problem is the owner of the Dilbert Cube I escaped from is also a client of yours! :-)
You’ve helped both of us immensely! Keep it up.
George
Perry,
My enemy is procrastination, and I have been looking at your words of encouragement, listened to your webinars, and I have a job, which is a government service job – construction management, which I should be thankful for, but still have not taken a strong leap into going on my own.
I want to do want I need to do on my own time.
I know your programs are great, and I am broke.
I have been doing business, Contruction Drawings for contractors and obuilding owners, even in this “recession”, and have been making equal money as my salary to cover my debt.
I see where your courses will help me skyrocket to living the simple life that I need – made simple because of being able to get out of debt and help people. Of-course the extra will help me to do my best to help my family and mankind.
All I have to do is Jump in.
Thank you Perry.
Gerald.
Gerald, you can take the steps. Blessings to ya.
Applying what I learned in the Definitive Guide (must be about six years ago now) was essential to making the economics of my business work – which allowed me to take the step into self-employment (my Dilbert cube was in a basement). Without knowing the keys to making Adwords work, I wouldn’t have a business. Period.
Now I have a business I can operate where I want, when I want. Sitting here writing this by a lake in Canada as the leaves golden.
Simon
boy i remember the story, i was in the US ( iam an indian) i had a h1b visa and i was in a tech consulting job. Life was good, weekend parties and 5 hour workdays! And then there was this huge realization and i quit everything and came back to india to start a plastic recycling venture. Bad business, cronically leaking, major pain. But i got that terrific implementation attitude that has served me ever since. After i realized that i also needed to make a profit not just do social good, i switched businesses and life today is quite good. And perry you are the guy who has made me believe that knowledge is the ultimate leverage.
one funny thing is the sheer relevance of what i have learnt from you. your five lines create more of a bottomline impact than whole books put together. So thanks for that.
Thanks also for making me understand tht business can be a symphony and actually see it happen.
Cheers
Anant
Perry… I escaped my “dilbert cube” about 18 months ago, but it’s been a roller coaster. I have a couple paying clients, but I need to build some momentum.
I have you to thank for 80% of what I understand about marketing. I confess… I used to spread myself too thin, and failed to execute like a Kevin Thompson. All that’s changing. I’m tightening up my lead generation strategy, and getting off several of the mailing lists I’m on. I accept full responsibility for every poor and mediocre decision I’ve made thus far.
Just yesterday, I was listening to the recording you did entitled, “Stop Talking and Start Prototyping”. Great stuff. From what I can see… you stay razor sharp.
Brighter days are ahead. Thanks for all your encouragement, and your great example.
God bless,
Ramon
I made the jump before coming across the Perry stuff. I’m not out of the woods celebrating freedom just yet but I’m chopping the trees slowly but surely.
Majority of the posts on here help me keep focused when I’m drifting into the 80% as opposed to the 20%.
There’s a lot to be said for taking the step and it’s great creating your own stress instead of someone creating it for you.
I have affinity with the ‘turn on Mozart while I market comment’..i take great pleasure from listening to what I want whilst I work…no rules.
No more boardrooms strangling your ideas (or letting the opportunity pass whilst deliberating) Choosing your own trusted counsel,to debate ideas is much more productive.
Anyway, back to my music….
Hi Perry,
I’ve been self employed since March 2011. Much of my inspiration to strike out on my own came from Planet Perry. I just got a phone call from a client that I did some SEO and conversion optimization work for and their sales are up! Also, my own retail biz is growing! What recession? I would love to see you (someday) author an e-book titled The Definitive Guide to Internet Business that covered PPC, SEO, conversion optimization, the entire sales process, auto responders etc.
With great admiration.
Noah
I had been struggling along in my Online Marketing firm back in 2008, when I went to an in-person weekend Rountable session with you with and on the instruction of my client at the time who owned a hotel in Oklahoma. I had been “doing” AdWords marketing since 2002 and thought there was no way that anybody, including a so-called AdWords expert could teach my anything about pay per click marketing. I learned so much from my weekend with you that it literally transformed my businesses overnight. I learned a whole new way of looking at online marketing that I used to help grow my client’s businesses. My company grew it’s revenue 3 fold and it grew to the point that I was recently acquired by a larger web design and development firm, Ninthlink, Inc. I now am the VP of Online Marketing here and still use all of the methodology I learned from you. While online marketing and Google AdWords has changed significantly since that day, the approaches I learned are still extremely relevant. I may still be in a cube but it is a cube of my own choosing. And I have a weekend in Chicago and 3 days with you to thank for that…
Ron,
Great to hear from you! Hope to see you again soon
Perry
Got plenty of scars – probably a few too many – but no real story…
Perry,
Reading your story again certainly brings back memories.
As the very first person to invest in your Definitive Guide To Google AdWords, you and I go back a looonnngg ways.
And there sure has been a lot of water under the bridge since we first met.
I suppose I could talk about all the strategies you’ve taught me along the way, because God knows you’ve delivered a TON of value in that department.
But the REAL value I’ve received from you over the years has been watching how you run your business, how you treat your clients, how you treat your subscribers, and how you truly care about what you do.
To you, this might seem like no big deal. After all, it’s who you are.
You couldn’t imagine being any other way.
But the fact is, you possess a very rare quality, and as I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s also one of the reasons you’ve been so successful.
I’ve never told you this before, but you’ve always been a hero of mine.
Someone I’ve looked up to and admired for many years.
Thanks for being such an inspiration, because if it weren’t for the profound impact you’ve had on my own life over the years, I can assure you I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Who would’ve thought that I could experience so may incredible transformations in my life.
From Alaska Fisherman… to carpet cleaner… to “mold guy”… to trusted advisor in the niche I serve.
Today I have a business that compensates me more than I ever imagined, for doing what I absolutely love, with people that I truly care about.
Whether you knew it or not, you’ve been right by my side for much of the ride, and yes, Planet Perry hs played a HUGE role in the success I’ve had.
Thanks for everything, and I look forward to all that lies ahead.
Kevin Thompson
WOW. Thank you for your heartfelt appreciation.
So let me tell you a story I bet you’ve never heard before.
I was in a Dan Kennedy meeting someplace – VIP group maybe, or it could have been a seminar – and somebody who’s a niche guru says, “I’ve got this ONE guy who does EVERYTHING I tell him to do. Everything. He’s an implementation machine. Nobody else does everything I tell ’em to do, just Kevin.”
Somebody says, “You mean Kevin Thompson?”
“Yeah, Kevin Thompson.”
The guy says, “Well Kevin Thompson is one of MY customers and he does everything *I* tell him to do too!”
And yes, you were in the front row at Furey’s seminar in Tampa, handing over your credit card, buying copy #1 of my Definitive Guide to Google AdWords in 2003, which wasn’t even finished yet. And…. you were one of the guys in MY customer list who did “everything.”
And look where you are now.
At our mastermind meeting, Dan replies wryly: “If all of us sold our info products just to people who actually do everything we tell them to do, we’d all only have one customer, and it would be Kevin Thompson.”
Dude, you gotta give yourself a pat on the back for that and you’ve gotta take a look at all the other comments on this page. Not all of ’em are positive.
There are no guarantees in life and some people don’t get the success they so crave. I know that. Boy, do I ever know that. I have a front row seat to all of it. But all I can do is my job.
It’s like Les Brown says: “It’s better to be prepared and not have an opportunity, than have an opportunity and not be prepared.”
I find a startlingly consistent correlation between LISTENING TO A VERY SMALL GROUP OF MENTORS, PREFERABLY JUST ONE > MASSIVE, ALMOST RECKLESS IMPLEMENTATION > EVENTUAL SUCCESS. Not 100% mind you, but enough that I can usually identify why someone hasn’t succeeded. It’s seldom all that hard.
The most typical person who’s spent $50,000 going into debt and getting educated by online gurus and has nothing to show for it is on 22 different email lists and has products from 14 different people, most of which have only been acted upon 25% and not in any comprehensive systematic way. It’s spotty and shotgun with a trail of unfinished projects.
You are an exception and I know exactly why.
So buy yourself a nice lunch today and celebrate being who you are.
It’s great to know ya. See you soon I hope, let’s grab a beer.
Perry
P.S.: This deserves its own blog post.
Hey Perry,
You’re right, I’ve never heard that story before.
I had no idea, so thanks much for sharing, because you just made my day.
Talk about humbling… especially the comment from Dan.
Kevin
Are you kidding me?
Mine is a very long one but will give you only a very short version.
First time I got online, I got it ALL WRONG!
Didn’t know who to trust, who to turn to. Even when I found your blog(I have no idea how I stumbled upon it)..
I found it very difficult to believe you at first.
WHY?
Because I had listened and believed the “make a million dollar overnight gospel” so much that nothing else mattered any more.
The more I think about my journey here, the more I feel stupid, dump, for allowing myself to believe these “make a million dollar overnight evangelists”
Talk about wasted time and effort!
Guess what?
Just like a prodigal son…
I had to come back home to Perry’s no fluff, no hype teachings.
Now I am slowly getting back on track.
No, I don’t have a story about how I made a million dollar or how I generated millions of impressions..
Mine is about having my life back and feeling good about what I NOW do to ethically make a living online.
If you are a prodigal son like me, or you are still struggling to find your own VOICE; you owe it to yourself to hang around Perry for guidance or else ….
THANKS A LOT AND God bless you man!
John Mendocha, who had a stint in professional gambling in Vegas 30 years ago, says, “You can’t cheat an honest man.” I was in the same boat as you for a long time, thinking that a business could be fueled mostly by hope. A little voice in my head kept encouraging me to “outsmart this thing” whatever that meant. Eventually I found a world (direct marketing) that was based on outsmarting the other guy and not the “mach 2 with hair on fire” / “the solution to everything is MASSIVE ACTION” mentality of my 20’s.
Congrats, I’m so glad you’re here.
I just have to expand on the quote by John Mendocha. It came from W.C. Fields. “You can’t cheat an honest man. Never give a sucker an even break, or smarten up a chump.”
Love that line – took pause to notice “My job in my rear view mirror for the last time.”
Been there, done that and the view through the windscreen was always better!
Perry,
I have to admit you were not the first person I started to follow on my journey to freedom. Let me back up a minute and explain. About 3 years ago the company I was working for was about to go under. Rumors were everywhere that the club was closing and we would be without a job. Well, of course that got me nervous because I like so many people had worked hard to get a good education so that I could move up the corporate ladder only to find that if I lost my job it wold be hard to find one with similar pay and position. So, I started to follow guys like Ryan Lee and Craig Ballantyne. these guys happened to be in the fitness industry and that just made it easier for me to relate. I began to follow them and start implementing some stuff while all along the club I was working stayed open but changed ownership. When that happened everything changed. The new owners brought in a “consultant” and that meant we were out. I got the call the office and when you walk in and see HR you know it is not good! I was fired and now on my own. Although as tough as it is to hear those words “You Fired” I knew it this was my opportunity.
Okay, I know I have been rambling and this is supposed to be how have you helped and up to this point I have not come across your stuff. Then I listen to a David Frey telesummit and hear you present. I was like this guy knows is stuff and I need to learn more about him and what he does. Several months goes by and I have been working hard and getting know where and I decide to jump on another webinar with David and you on Auto Responders. The light bulb went off in my head and I realized I needed what you were offering. I have to admit one of my problems is I am cheap and the thought of spending a grand on a course was way out of my comfort zone but the more I thought about I was convinced it was what the successful IM guys were doing and if I wanted to be successful I needed to follow their lead. It has been a few months and I am starting to gain some traction. I have received some great feedback from some friends and clients on the emails that I have written. I have a long way to go but I feel way more confident moving forward. You see, after I bought your AR course I decided that I no longer can have the mentality of “If you build it they will come.” I knew I need to learn how to get paid traffic to my site so I purchased you Google Adwords book. It absolutely loved the analogy of the wright brothers and it forced me to do what I thought all along and that was to change up the sales page to improve conversions. Also, I have begun to build a strategy and have started tracking everything I do. I still have about 50 more pages to read but I plan to start running my Google Adwords campaigns in the next few weeks.
As I close I have to say that the best advice you gave me was to stop following so many people. Find one or two and stick with them. So Perry I have chosen to follow you and the strategies you are teaching. My goal is to one day be a great testimonial for you!
Thanks for everything!
Bravo!
For my wife and I 9-11 was a catalyst for us too… we both looked at each other late in the day and we knew it was time.
Within a year we had sold everything we owned and moved to Costa Rica, ostensibly to retire. But I couldn’t do it…
and… to make a long story short, within the next few years we had a real estate company, a construction company and ultimately became the largest developer of “affordable” homes and properties in the country.
I wish I could say that we have found the perfect advertising vehicle, but we haven’t… in fact, the last time I wrote to your company, someone told me that the only thing that I could benefit from was hands on individual consulting.
BUT like it or not… we made the break too and seems like traumatic instances like 9-11 “force” decisions which sometimes would not be made on their own.
While I wish that you had an easy, tailormade answer for me… it probably does not exist.
And we all move forward… and most of us are truly happy with the decisions we have made.
I’d love to tell you my escape story but I haven’t escaped!
I’ve been running my own business for 18 years. One day I had an opportunity to leave work and go out on my own and I just took it.
From very small beginnings the first 4 5 or 6 years were fine but then internet marketing happened. It has completely undermined the traditional ways of selling my product and, try as I might, I just cannot get to grips with the modern alternative.
I’m certain there are computer wizz-kids out there who can set-up this stuff for me in a way that will work as you promise but all I can find is people who offer, at best, half an answer in exchange for huge amounts of cash up front.
Meanwhile I watch my business slowly burn.
It’s good to have some kind of valuable product or service to offer. Not everybody has that down pact yet.
Hi Perry,
My road has been a difficult one. Mostly just because of my own belief in the knowledge and skills that I already had.
I had a good friend and mentor who really helped me through some of those rough times.
Last summer I was delivering pizza, washing windows, many months behind on child support, and almost evicted out of my house.
Today I am landing many small projects for clients, have many clients on monthly retainers, and getting 5 figure consulting gigs.
I have several that have influenced this and you Perry are very high on that list. In fact my initial inspiration that I could actually do this came from you several years ago as I started digging into your materials.
Now I am full time doing this and it has changed my life. Still learning a lot! Learning new things that few get a chance to do.
Thanks for all your inspiration and for your wisdom!
Peter
Congrats Peter!
I started my website after listening to one of your whitepaper presentations as 5 things you need to know before refinancing your mortgage…that was six years ago. The site is generating a full-time income and I’ve gone part-time at my slave job…but haven’t fully escaped yet.
Congrats, Robert!
A good story, you should write childrens books (joke). I cant help but have the cycnical attitude that this would have been easier to accomplish 10 years ago before the recession (despite 9/11). Right now our industry is so much more competitive and both consultancy and employment opportunities seem more scarce.
I can only say that I would like to think that I could have summoned the courage required to have followed your Lead Perry, if it had not been for my own set of circumstances or “Turn of Events” after 9-11.
God or Fate if your prefer, interviened in my Life 10 Days after 9-11, as a result of significat loss of Business, which caused Panic for the Synergetic Distributor I worked for in ARkansas & Texas.
I have continuly been encouraged by your Insights, but God has also given me the Wisdom to make some good Decisions about the Ideas that you gave me for my consideration and evualation.
Please excuse the references to God, but I do not know how to write this Business Success Story without including Him, even though you have had a dramatic impact on my Success, because of the Directions I consciously decided to take in recient years !
So this is a Dilbert Cube escape story by default, in that I did not know that I needed to Escape, until some time later, after I “found my way” on the WWW.
I had Vision, but you have helped me to Focus my InterNet energies in the right direction.
Thank you Perry for being who you are, which is an encouragement to me !
Ray W Zimbal Jr.
MD&G+Controls=Mechatronics SOLUTIONS
Motors, Drives and Gears plus Controls
Ray,
I totally relate to the God thing. Only He can open the Big Doors.
Had a contracting business from 1999 to 2007. It did very well. So well, in fact, that in 2005 I bought out my major competitor. Sales fell 40% in 2006 and again in 2007………mainly because of the economy. The writing was on the wall for me in ’06, so I started looking at the internet. Most people thought I would start practicing law again (I am an attorney also), but I was fascinated by the internet.
Closed my business in Nov 2007, hopped online Dec 07, made over 10k the first week of Jan……..and haven’t looked back.
Nope — still stuck in my Dilbert Cube and feeling more trapped than ever. I’ve spent SO much money on sites like yours that promise a way out… so far lots of money spent but no real workable strategy for replacing my income. :(
We share a similar anniversary Perry. Nov will mark my 10th year of being “out on my own” – I wake up grateful every day…happier, healthier, closer to my wife and kids, and WAY MORE MONEY. Congrats!
Planet Perry helped us get out of cube land. It started in 2002 when we realized we weren’t going to be IT consultants forever.
We had only been in the corporate world for 2 years and already knew our future wasn’t there. We actually knew that 3 years early however after college graduation we decided to give it a try for a few years.
In 2002 my brother quit first. The bosses couldn’t believe he was leaving (to do real estate before it was cool to do real estate.
3 months into quitting we started PPC and began our journey. I can remember when we first got Perry’s book a few years later. It changed everything for us when a friend handed it to us.
We were able to stay consistent with our leads like never before and our competition couldn’t keep up. We still use all of the skills we have been taught by Planet Perry to keep fighting.