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I had worked at my first sales job for 18 months and had nothing impressive to brag about whatsoever.

One by one, every “deal” I had worked on crashed and burned.

But this one was different. A guy at U.S. Steel had called me in and I quoted a $1.1 million optical profiler project, a technology he had great difficulty procuring elsewhere. I was deliriously excited about the prospects of a $55,000 commission check.

The whole thing evaporated right before my eyes. I spent an hour on the phone trying to save the project from death. Then Wally called me in his office and informed me:

I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most talented people in marketing today and it’s a thrill to just be in their company. Today I’d like to tell you something about the very best ones, that most people never notice.

Doncha just love these lyrics by the Traveling Wilburys?

I’ve been fobbed and I’ve been fooled
I’ve been robbed and ridiculed
In daycare centers and night schools
Handle me with care

Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Handle me with care…

Pretty much describes the state of most online marketers, doesn’t it?

There’s a great book by Don Miller called “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” At the beginning of this book, Don suddenly realizes:

“If my life were a movie, it would be so boring nobody would ever care to watch it.”

Yesterday at TED in California, I spoke with a Radiation Oncologist – a cancer doc. (Fun job, huh?) She told the story of her patient.

An older woman found out her cancer had spread to her brain. She was terminal. Not a question of whether, just a question of when.

She and her 62 year old husband hoped that she could make it long enough to celebrate their upcoming 38th anniversary.

The doctor found out she loved a certain violinist…

People ask me for all kinds of advice, and for the most part that advice consists of business models, Unique Selling Propositions, clicks, traffic, offers, opt-ins and shopping carts. You know the drill.

But I would not be doing my job if I didn’t add that beneath all the strategies and techniques is a foundation of common sense and wisdom that can only be classified as spiritual.

For example…

You’re in a steel mill. You’ve donned your hard hat, your goggles, your fireproof denim jacket and steel-toed shoes.

200 feet away is a blast furnace. The noise is deafening. Molten steel pours out of a ladle into a giant vat. Every time it does so, a horn sounds warning that lethal 2200 degree liquid pours overhead. Above the raucous din you hear the sound of men shouting and giant otherworldly vehicles rumbling by.

Just then, a woman approaches you.

What you’re about to hear makes me blush. But it’s worth sharing anyway.

Makes me blush for two reasons:

Gotta get some things off my chest about the state of the Internet Marketing biz, education, truth-telling and the massive paradigm shift we’re experiencing right now. And what it’s going to take for you to stay on top the next 1-5-10 years:

A long time ago, Tom Hoobyar and I were at a hotel and there was this motivational business rally going on. We peeked in the door of the hotel ballroom and people were standing on their chairs waving cigarette lighters in the air and cheering.

The music was pounding and everyone was having a great time.