I had lunch yesterday with Mike, the last guy I worked for before escaping the Dilbert Cube.
Since most entrepreneurs are chronically unemployable to begin with, a LOT of us left our last job with bridges burning behind us with 100 foot flames…. and a dose of “I’m gonna show that guy if it’s the last thing I do…!”
You know what they say: “Success is the best revenge.”
I never felt that way about Mike. I worked for him for 4 years. The first 3 years it was the most fun and most challenging and stressful job I’d ever had.
But I must confess, that last year was tough sledding for all of us. We were tackling the most ambitious business plan I’ve ever seen – gunning to either go public or sell to a bigger firm. We’d borrowed 2 million dollars to develop a chip, gambling our entire future on a single technology. A VIP in the company was Wreaking All Kinds Of Havoc. Then 9/11 happened and our company got sold.
When the sale happened, I was good and ready for something new. I left and started the business I’m in now.
Mike sold his company to a public company and became a Vice President there. Mike eventually got booted out. (The old “CEO of Old Company becomes VP in New Company” routine rarely works.)
Mike had to start over.
Fortunately, New Company sold him back some pieces of Old Company that they didn’t want anymore, so he didn’t have to completely start from scratch.
But still it was a startup with the normal and customary 2 years of pain & suffering. Which translated, means: “Put Money In. Do Not Take Money Out.”
6 years later his new firm is 2X bigger than the old one ever was, with fewer employees. His #1 Company Policy (which is literally printed on a sign hanging on the wall) is:
E.L.F.
EASY – LUCRATIVE – FUN
Mike alerts all employees, vendors and customers: E.L.F.? is THE rules for doing business around here. No more Wreaking All Kinds Of Havoc allowed, ever. When those folks arrive, he shows them the door.
He’s really rockin’. I’m really impressed and proud of him.
And I told him: That last Dilbert Cube job was just about the best experience I could have ever hoped to have, preparing me for what I do now. Fast paced, anxiety ridden and harrowing…. but adventurous and exhilarating and fun. I can’t think of a better way for a 20-something guy to become a fierce sales & marketing warrior.
That last crazy year working at Mike’s company – reporting to Mr. Wreaking All Kinds of Havoc and almost getting my fingers sliced off multiple times – caused me to make myself a vow:
“I will NEVER put myself in a position where anybody can ever make me get up every day and work for a guy like this, ever again.”
And that’s what pushed me off the ledge and caused me to dive into the Entrepreneurial Mosh Pit.
I was actually a little bitter and angry for awhile, until I realized all that pain & suffering was pretty much the ONLY way I could possibly absorb all the lessons I needed to acquire in that 4 year span.
I learned a TON of stuff. I even got some really important lessons from Mr. Wreaking All Kinds of Havoc. (“Never work for a mentally unstable tyrant” being one of them :^)
Half the time when I have a phone consultation, I am mentally putting myself back in that cubicle at my old desk in Mike’s office, remembering every crazy thing that was going on around me and everything we did to make our business work.
So if you’ve gotten a few bumps and bruises along the way – even if you’ve been shoved down a few flights of stairs – you can at least be thankful your life isn’t B-O-R-I-N-G.
Remember that the greatest form of alchemy is transforming those painful experiences into gold.
And… remember to embrace EASY – LUCRATIVE – FUN. Half the pain and suffering is usually self-inflicted and unnecessary anyway.
Thanks, Mike. It’s been a wild ride. Let’s do an interview for the Renaissance Club members real soon.
Perry Marshall
P.S.: ELF? is a Registered Trademark of Joe Polish and Piranha Marketing Inc.
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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.
32 Comments on “Policy #1: EASY – LUCRATIVE – FUN”
I appreciate what you’ve learned and teach. Thank you! I’m an old dog learning new tricks. Again, thank you.
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
having worked for 2 multinationals for 15 years i chose to ride my own horse. i believe that big companies are only big because they are big, not because they are particularly good at anything. it is a big herd. inside it is safe (well, no longer…) but boring.
a german singer, stefan stoppok, put in a song “viel zu schoen”
much to beautiful this earth is
much too beautiful to live your life in a herd
let them go
no matter where they go to
sounds somehow better in the original.
(riding into the sunset)
Just a note that “making business ELF – easy, lucrative, and fun” – as well as ELF marketing strategies, have been the taglines for Piranha Marketing (Joe Polish) for just about a decade now. Something mentioned in every interview he’s done in this industry, so Mike must be a subscriber – though Joe’s clients embrace the term in all that they do, it’s part of their daily language.
We are always telling them, they can have an ELF business, or a HALF business (hard, annoying, lame and frustrating). Most choose the former. :)
I know you know Joe personally Perry, so just thought it might be nice to mention the source here. Just professional courtesy.
Great post by the way, Lisa
Actually, the last job I was at will be used as a major reference point for a book I presently developing.
Though I was grinding my teeth for months with that company, I have to admit that the C-rate management has provided me with the kind of content base you can’t pay for.
My 25 years as a construction manager; building just about anything you can think of has given me invaluable experience of managing, dealing with stressful situations, communicating with people and working inter-dependently to get team results has proven invaluable.
Having now quit that industry I take those lessons into my online businesses and always remember that quality, and the ability to deliver what I have promised will do more for me than any hype or advertising.
Thanks for this wonderful post.
Being unemployed since 2006, it has been 4
years for me in IM and have my fair
share of ups and downs…. from making
my first $26.25 online to my first $1000 a day…
i must say that i really enjoyed my life for
the past years… deciding what time to get up,
and what to do…
just like what you said:”Easy, lucrative & Fun!”
Perry your blog ROCKS!!
i find myself reading hours of your content.
Great stuff and this post really hit home,
Thanks
Shaqir
Geez, I can’t do anything right.
Actually that quote is from Gladiator.
Perry,
Have traveled the road of the start-up.
Its like walking a tight rope every day.
Risk/reward is a constant balancing act.
Easy-Lucrative-Fun is a great attitude.
Hi Perry,
Once again, you seem to be tapping into some sort of plane of common experience. A meme shared by many who do not fit the JOB system.
I my case the warning and wake up call came after a stupid dehydration episode at the gym (I was stupid for not taking water early in a 90 minute cardio training session).
On the Monday I went to the doctor just to check and found, although pulse was 54 and waking pulse 45, (good results) systolic blood pressure however was 167, way over any limits and about 3 pressure points from a body bag. This was my warning.
My wake up call came in the form of a very strong inner prompt when coming out of a meditation. The prompt said “This has got to stop”. The doctor wanted me to start taking blood pressure medication straight away. I had a different solution in mind.
I knew that “This” in the inner prompt meant the repetitive cycle of start a job, find out the boss is an incompetent idiot who is never going to change,the job deteriorates, and then I get a signal (in the previous job I slipped and broke my wrist). The signals were getting stronger, a broken wrist, and then hypertension.
When you confront the fact that you may be just 3 pressure points short of a body bag a lot of things go through your mind. Visions of the police knocking on the door and saying to my ex “I am afraid we have some bad news” or, worse still, an ambo pulling up and the driver basically saying, “Where would you like us to put the vegetable”.
The solution was not to go blood pressure pills, it was to extract myself from a mentally toxic environment that was killing me – so I quit. With the meager payout, I have rationed my expenses, paid the rent 10 weeks in advance and now I am “going for it”.
Somehow, wherever the prompt comes from is guiding me. I feel relaxed, but in high performance mode, the knowledge I am receiving is highly focused and I am being guided (by my own instincts and from whatever guides us from within). A quiet inner peace and confidence and has emerged.
I cannot fully quantify what is happening but I seem to be going through a process of taking absolute responsibility and of becoming totally accountable for who I am. My quiet entrepreneur is coming out from the inner fog and guiding me.
I know that people like yourself who have been through the process will say “Yes it is hard to quantify but it is a process of taking control of yourself – you make a decision, you change, and your reality changes – it’s a process”.
To those still in the JOB system – don’t ignore the warning signs and act on the wake up call. Back yourself – the alternatives to not taking massive action could be life changing in a devastating way.
Regards,
Ronald Doherty
(120 is acceptable).
Ronald,
Like William Wallace says in “Braveheart”:
Strength and Honor!
Thanks to Perry for the article. Also, thanks to Joe Polish for bringing the concept of ELF to my attention.
Perry,
You are an inspiration to me. I have spent the majority of my life playing country music for a living. It’s a passion I have always had and always will.
I had the general manager jobs with all the micro managing crap I could stand.
I am new to this scene, but I definately have staying power.
I just got out of “Email Rehab” , man you don’t want to go thru that
They waterboard you, and then beat the hell out of you so your eyes swell shut , and walla you are cured.
I hope like hell I don’t relapse , because the next thing they do is smash your mouse.
Black eyes are one thing , but trying to work with a sore mouse aint no fun.
I’ve managed to save all your emails , ( I hid them in my cool new G2 cell phone, as a MP3 ( sneaky huh) I just read them and recorded it.
Now you talk like a west texas cowboy (pretty cool)
I think I ordered one of your course, cause I got a letter from you with a Gorilla MKT (white paper)and a cd.
Well it was really on kinda yellow paper, anyway keep on sending then emails and as soon as I get this figured out , I’m loading up on Perry Marshall Stuff.
Fiddlin’ funds are kinda low right now.
Idea! You want trade marketing lessons for fiddle lessons, I imagine we’ll both have to put in the same amount of time to really get any results
Love your stuff
The “MLM” Cowboy
Clay Mac
Yes, and think of all the sensitivity training I am not taking, all the staff meetings I don’t go to, all the status reports I don’t write, and all the expense reports that I don’t fill out.
Though I do miss the conversation clatter at the cafeteria.
Do you mean to imply that sensitivity training isn’t Easy, Lucrative and Fun??
Perry–several good thoughts in here, but, for my part, the most powerful line for all the truth and imagery it holds:
diving into the Entrepreneurial Mosh Pit
Interesting observations. Particularly about being chronically unemployable. My observation is only slightly different. We all reach a point where we decide to fit in and become permanently employable in spite of ourselves, or we follow our instincts and go off on our own. At least that was my experience.
My transition was natural, having gained some experience with my next incarnation while still employed. However since then I have reinvented myself a couple of times. The last one incorporates all the experience previously acquired, and am involved with helping people prepare their business for sale.
Perry,
Thanks for the boost in the arm and the reminder. I would rather eat soup with no water or mayo sandwiches with no bread every day for the rest of my life then work for someone else. Regardless of the ups and downs, it beats working for the the power hungry people who move like dinosaurs and think they know everything!
Thanks for the continues emails.
Gene Culver
Hey Perry,
Thanks for the great reminder on the ELF concept. Just got off a coaching call with Tom Hoobyar, and we shared a chuckle about it. Great stuff…and thanks for your indirect introduction to Tom.
Appreciate ya
Paul
Great story Perry.
I received the email and actually started laughing at the summary before clicking through.
It also helped me realize once again why I am doing IM. Like you said,
“Remember that the greatest form of alchemy is transforming those painful experiences into gold.
And… remember to embrace EASY – LUCRATIVE – FUN. Half the pain and suffering is usually self-inflicted and unnecessary anyway.”
Very important when trying to increase conversions.
… “most entrepreneurs are chronically unemployable” …
best statement on this post … Perry keeps delivering :)
best regards
José
Perry, you’re right, when the entrepreneurial spirit calls you out you have no choice but to obey. You will find out soon enough if you have the guts to stick it out or if you go down in a flaming heap. You take what life lessons you have learned so far, and then learn more, put them into practice and never look back all the while improving on what you have built. The stuff I’ve bought from you as well as the insightful blog posts and emails sure do help me in my daily struggle to be the best. Thanks for that and never stop pontificating.
“Never work for a mentally unstable tyrant”
Yup, been there!
And I was scared when I walked away from that job with no savings, but it certainly not been boring!
About those flights of stairs you’ve been down Perry …was it that gave you the name “Bobsleigh Run?”
Remarkable post!
:-)
I left my last corporate job a year ago February. I’ve gone back and forth since 1986. You’re right as an Entrepreneur it is really hard to work for a corporate entity and the people that work there. Many people complain all day about their jobs, yet they never seem to do anything about it.
I have studied marketing for several years now and have been receiving your very helpful emails all along.
Have done a few multi-step campaigns for my ventures.
Warmest regards,
David Miller
Thanks so much for this story and ‘take’ on things. I really enjoyed it. I love the ELF. I just have to figure out the ‘L’ part. For me the’E’ is because what I’m doing is ‘F’. Got to get that ‘L’ part going soon!
Words to live by. These days you might want to add ‘Ethical’ as some people don’t seem to understand the word.
(I was looking to make money on the net 6 months before I found you and you were the 1st ethical -to a fault- marketeer I ran into!)
Mark
Perry, this is exactly what I needed to read at this very moment.
Taking the next step very soon: actually charging what I’m worth for my services.
I’ve found that ELF can still be stressful. But, its a lot less stressful when you’re working for yourself. You just have to remember to give yourself a break from time to time. Entrepreneurs almost always can’t sit still because there is always something to do. Its taken me a few years, but I’ve finally found a business focus and the sense to identify when I’m working way too hard/long.
Amen! I got fired in 2001 on my birthday – my 42nd. Symbolic?
And my third and last time being laid off (as we say in the UK).
Didn’t seem like fun at the time, but I’m so thankful it happened…
Last November my web site had 930 unique visitors and 54,000 hits, but no conversions. Even though I have a winning product, what I really need is for someone else to take over the marketing end. At least, with the right pitch a couple hundred million dollars could easily cross the threshold.
Michael S Levinson
Agreed. To this day I am still grateful for my last corporate job (i.e., Dilbert-cube position). Never wanting to return there again has compelled me to press on despite any difficulties or challenges.
Thanks,
Steve