Studying "other" Successful Marketers/Guru's/Experts - you know...the "Big Guys"

One of the most important things I've learned since entering the Internet Marketing world, was to learn from the people who are already doing what you want to do. In the beginning I had no idea just who the successful marketers/Guru's/Experts were, because EVERYONE said that they were. So I went on trusting everyone who had a good lookin' website and claimed I could make a whole buncha money if I bought their product. As I hopped from person to person, opportunity to opportunity, sales page to sales page.....I noticed something. I haven't seen to much of the same people, always someone new. The only person that I grew to recognize was Mike Filsame, so I started to follow him. I really did grow alot reading what he wrote and watching how he marketed. That guy always had a new website....I could tell he was making bucks! ANYWAY....as you know in the internet marketing world, most all the "big guys" know each other and promote each others stuff. This method introduced me to alot of intelligent and cool people such as Frank Kern, Mike Dillard and Yanik Silver. You'll hear enough about Frank and Mike from me as time passes, but this Yanik guy.....I gotta tell ya.....He is one smart dude.

In efforts to study Frank Kern (A Real Mass Controller), I went through all my Older > Gmail to see if I could find any nuggets I forgot about or never noticed (and yes...I found a pile of nuggets!!) . There were 82 e-mails that mentioned the name Frank Kern, and I finally attracted a truckload of nuggets in e-mail #25 from Jeff Walker on Nov.21.08. He was talking about saving copywriting in Swipe Files (...hope you have one....better yet you better have one!!....Create New > Folder > "Swipe Files".....then copy & paste whatever you like). He was talking about how he's swiped from Frank and a few other guys but his friend Yanik Silver had a new site that launched with a "REALLY killer sales letter". So I decided to check it out, because copy is very important! So I clicked the link...and here's this super long sales letter that I didn't want to read. (While Scrolling) I saw a numbered list and went back up to read it. (Get Ready!) That list was actually what he was giving away on his site. (for free....sorta)

He called it"The 34 Rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs". (he said he didn't want to keep them a secret so he posted them on his blog and got 369 comments!)

Ladies & Gentlemen, Newbies and Smart Beginners, Marketer's Guru's & Experts.....I present to you.....

(From Yanik Silver)

"The 34 Rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs"
(soak it in one at a time for best results)

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1. It's got to be a BIG idea that you, your team and your customers can "get" in seconds.
2. Strive to create 10x -- 100x in value for any price you charge. Your rewards are always proportionate to the value you provide.
3. You must charge a premium price so you have a large margin to provide an extraordinary value & experience.
4. Provide a 'Reason Why' customers should do business with you and pay you a premium.
5. Get paid before you deliver your product or service. And when possible figure out how to create recurring revenue from transactions.
6. You get to make the rules for your business. Don't let industry norms dictate how you'll work or who you'll work with.
7. Create your business around your life instead of settling for your life around your business.
8. Consistently and constantly force yourself to focus on the 'critically few' proactive activities that produce exponential results. Don't get caught up in minutia & bullshit.
9. Seek to minimize start-up risk but have maximum upside potential.
10. Get your idea out there as fast as possible even if it's not quite ready by setting must-hit deadlines. Let the market tell you if you have a winner or not. If not -- move on and fail forward fast! If it's got potential -- then you can make it better.
11. Find partners and team members who are strong where you are weak and appreciate being paid on results.
12. Your reputation always counts. Honor your obligations and agreements.
13. Never, ever get paid based on hours worked.
14. Leverage your marketing activities exponentially by using direct response methods and testing.
15. Measure and track your marketing so you know what's working and what's not.
16. Bootstrap. Having too much capital leads to incredible waste and doing things using conventional means.
17. Your partners and employees actions are their true core -- not what they tell you.
18. Keep asking the right questions to come up with innovative solutions. "How?", "What?", "Where?", "Who Else?" & "Why?" open up possibilities.
19. You'll never have a perfect business and you'll never be totally "done". Deal with it.
20. Focus most of your time on your core strengths and less time working in areas you suck at.
21. Make it easier for customers to buy by taking away the risk of the transaction by guaranteeing what you do in a meaningful way.
22. Always have something else to sell (via upsell, cross-sell, follow-up offer, etc) whenever a transaction takes place. The hottest buyer in the world is one who just gave you money.
23. Always go back to your existing customers with exceptional offers and reasons they should give you more money. It's 5x less expensive to sell to happy customers than go find new ones.
24. However the flip side is - fire your most annoying customers. They'll be replaced with the right ones.
25. The marketplace and competitors are always trying to beat you down to a commodity. Don't let that happen.
26. Develop and build your business's personality that stands out. People want to buy from people.
27. Create your own category so you can be first in the consumer's mind.
28. Go the opposite direction competitors are headed -- you'll stand out.
29. Mastermind and collaborate with other smart entrepreneurs if they have futures that are even bigger than their present.
30. Celebrate your victories. It's too easy to simply move on to your next goal without acknowledging and appreciating the 'win'.
31. Make your business AND doing business with you FUN!
32. Do the unexpected before and after anything goes wrong so customers are compelled to 'share your story'.
33. Get a life! Business and making money are important but your life is the sum total of your experiences. Go out and create experiences & adventures so you can come back renewed and inspired for your next big thing.
34. Give back! Commit to taking a % of your company's sales and make a difference. If this becomes a habit like brushing your teeth pretty soon the big checks with lots of zeros won't be scary to write. If you think you can't donate a percentage of your sales simply raise your price.
    

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