When I went to my very first internet marketing seminar in April ’02, I came home with a scratch pad jam-packed with notes. It was a firehose of information. I spent the next several months feverishly implementing everything I’d learned.

I’d also spent some serious dinero to hone my writing skills. I’d bought a big box o’ copywriting stuff and I was busily going through that too.

September came along, and with it, another invitation to yet another marketing seminar.

I thought, “How does it make any sense at all to pile on MORE information when I’ve done less than half my notes from just 5 months ago?”

For some reason I went anyway. Even though it almost felt like I was wasting my education dollars.

Several new things I learned that September are burned into my memory, 10 years later:

*A guy got up and talked about this crazy experiment where he tested this huge variety of banner ads on Valentines day.

This was not even Pay Per Click, just old-fashioned CPM banners. By rotating a wide range of ideas, he figured out the #1 message that people clicked on was “Feeling lonely because you don’t have a date for Valentines.”

It had nothing to do with chocolates or anything ‘obvious’ like that. Super useful information for a dating site, doncha think?

THAT was where I originally got my inspiration for using Google ads to test book titles. Which has now become an industry standard, resulting in world-famous titles like “The Four Hour Work Week.” Tim Ferris used my method to create his New York Times Bestseller.

*I scrapped my plans to hire a programmer and build a custom shopping cart, and signed up for 1ShoppingCart instead, which was brand new. Had I gone with my original plan (which in hindsight was ridiculous) I would’ve wasted an entire year.

*I met Howard Jacobson, Jonathan Mizel and John Reese. Would have never met any of those guys had I listened to that voice in my head and punished myself by “dutifully implementing” my plans from 6 months ago.

Since then, I don’t evaluate any opportunity in terms of what’s not already done. Instead, whether virtual or in-person, I evaluate education based on new connections I’ll make and the potential to sweep old ideas OFF the table in favor of better ones.

Sometimes it’s just setting ego aside. Hey, it’s still the best laid plans of mice and men. A better plan is always out there.

This is pure 80/20 thinking. I had done the best 20% from April. When September came along, it was time to replace the remaining 80% with a new 20%.

This is why my approach to education is: “Pile it on.” I implement only 5-10% of what I learn. As long as it’s the BEST 5-10% and as long as I DO implement, I’m fine. I don’t feel guilty or wasteful.

That’s kept me ahead of some steep learning curves. And relieved me of all kinds of stress and guilt.

Perry Marshall

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.